How to Help People Adopt Healthy Behaviors Terri Anne Flint, LCSW, Ph.D. Director - Employee Wellness & EAP Intermountain Healthcare

Intermountain Mission Helping people live the healthiest lives possible = helping people adopt healthy behaviors Exactly how do you do that? Is there a magical formula? Probably not – there are a lot of good models and theories which work – we just have to select one that easy to understand and implement. There have been so new works to some traditional models.

Why a framework? How do I help a person get 150 minutes of moderate/vigorous activity/week?

Behavior Change Task Force Goal: Develop and Intermountain Behavior Change Model that will influence people to adopt behaviors that improve their health at an individual, group (team & family) and community level. This model will be used enterprise-wide to engage all patients, employees and consumers in living their healthiest lives possible.

Objectives/Implications Inform the way we communicate Inform the way we train employees (MI?) Inform program development Inform how we prioritize and allocate resources Inform the way we invest in technology Inform the way we produce and distribute education Inform the way we establish our financial incentives

Who is on the team? Key Stakeholders of All Entities Nursing Patient Engagement SelectHealth Medical Group Behavioral Health Human Resources Care Management MH Integration LiVe Well Communications Hospitals Shared Accountability

What is timeline? 1. Submit a Behavior Change Model to Patient Engagement Steering Committee and LiVe Well Steering Committee by end of 2nd Quarter, 2015. 2. Prioritize sites/programs for application and develop implementation play by end of 3rd Quarter, 2015. 3. Socialize the model during 4th Quarter.

Where are we now? 3rd Draft of Behavior Change Framework Agreement on key variables Still in discussion about the “picture” Beginning to discuss application Lifestyle CPM for Children LiVe Well for Employees & Families

What is your experience? When was the last time you made a healthy behavior change? Why did you decide to try the change? Did you succeed at first or fail at first? If you failed, why did you try again or keep trying? Are you still doing the change? Why? Why not?

Behavior Change Framework Draft Action – specific target behavior with small, simple steps leading to desired outcome Motivation – variables include education, readiness, pain, fear, hope, acceptance Ability – resources such as money, mental effort, skill Prompt – email, sticky note, text, alarm

The Context (culture) Relationships – family, friends, providers Environment – affordable fruits and vegetables, walking paths, treats Mindset – Do we communicate fixed mindset or growth mindset messages?

B=MAT BJ Fogg The easier we can make it with prompts to remind us the more likely we can make changes – regardless of our level of motivation.

Outcome: What occurs after I take the action? What is the emotion when I do it? What did I expect (mindset)? How did others respond? Positive, feel good – I can continue. Somewhat difficult – Should I continue? Very difficult, negative – I can’t do this. Outcomes affect our next try at taking action

Application of the Model If I wanted you to move more (with the goal of 150 minutes/week), what could I do to influence your behavior?

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is the action simple? Does the person have the ability to do the action? Have we identified a prompt Am I focusing on motivation, ability or prompt?