Implementing and maintaining health living behaviors such as adequate physical activity and sleep, healthy eating, and stress management remain a challenge for individuals and families and their health care professionals. A new approach to behavior change focuses on system improvement methods to influence people’s behaviors.
In a new study, Farrokh Alemi, professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, in collaboration with Shirley M. Moore and Lenette Jones of the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, explored how changing a family’s daily systems, such as events and activities, can assist in adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors. The study is published in Nursing Outlook.
The authors describe SystemCHANGE™, a new model of health behavior change that focuses on redesigning a family’s daily routines using system improvement methods. This model allows families to gradually adjust their daily routines to achieve better health behavior habits.
“One element of system improvement is systems thinking, which, in short, links a person’s environment to their behavior,” Alemi said. “Very few people see their daily routines as a system and do not realize that these systems can change. Our goal was to adjust the person’s environment to lead to healthier behaviors rather than relying on a person’s willpower or own effort to implement positive changes.”
The authors’ work using SystemCHANGE has demonstrated effectiveness in changing behaviors in adults who have experienced cardiac events, stroke, end stage renal disease, and HIV. In these cases, the changes included healthy eating, exercise, reducing screen time, sleep and medication adherence.
“We are now offering an open online course to undergraduate students on how to use system analysis concepts to better maintain their resolutions. Students can enroll in HAP 290 life style management or visit http://openonlinecourses.com/lifestylemanagement,” Alemi said.