Health Behavior Change

Activity and Final Paper: Health Behavior Change Assignment (Runs the duration of the semester; Due Sunday of Week 8)

Although this project is due in Week 8, you will be working on it at your own pace, bit by bit, starting at the beginning of class.

This project is designed to help you think about the issues involved in designing programs for health behavior change. You will choose a behavior of your own that you would like to increase or decrease (e.g. eating more vegetables, drinking more water, jogging, quitting smoking, spending less time surfing the internet) and you will create a program for yourself to follow for the duration of the course.

Specifics:

· Complete the Health Behavior Change Workbook (see HBC Workbook in Course Resources) to help you get started.

· Track your progress over the next weeks using a journal, diary, smartphone app, etc.

· At the end of the course, write a 5 page summary of your experience, tying your experience to both the textbook material (cite your textbook, including page numbers), at least 3 peer reviewed journal articles, and the Health Behavior Change Workbook material. Be sure to include:

· descriptions of strategies you used to help you change your behavior (describe the strategies, and explain how you applied them yourself)

· descriptions of at least three of the models of behavior change you learned about (for example, The Stages of Change)

· connect your own psychosocial factors to each factor in the models of behavior change

· explain whether a health provider would predict that you would be successful or not successful in your ability to change behavior at this point in time, based on how your own psychosocial factors fit into the models of behavior change.

Note: You will be evaluated, not on your success or failure to change, but on how well you connect your experiences to the models and strategies presented in the Workbook, your Textbook, and your peer reviewed journal articles. If you were successful, why do you think you were successful, based on the elements of the models and strategies you learned about? If you were not successful, why do you think you were not successful, based on the elements of the models and strategies you learned about?

Submit to the dropbox: your Health Behavior Change Workbook (completed) and your Health Behavior Change paper (5 pages, double spaced, APA style).