Preventive Medicine and the Allen Behavioral Change Model: A Collaboration for Health Behavior Change Using Web-based Interventions

Medicine 2.0

Preventive Medicine and the Allen Behavioral Change Model: A Collaboration for Health Behavior Change Using Web-based Interventions Michael Allen, Ph.D., Julie Dirksen, M.S., Will Thalheimer, Ph.D. Charles P. Bosmajian, Jr., Ph.D., Edward A. Murphy, and David O. Wiebers, M.D. Presenter: Michael Allen, Ph.D. The prevalence of chronic disease and the principal risk factors that lead to disease onset can be significantly diminished through lifestyle choices people make in their everyday lives. Interactive Web-based media has the capacity to assist millions of people to adopt healthy lifestyle practices through very individualized guidance tailored to each person with whom it interacts. This paper describes a new paradigm for Web-based health behavior change developed through a collaboration between Preventive Medicine, a healthcare informatics company, and Allen Interactions, a leading developer of custom e-learning applications. The concept is designed to empower individuals to integrate preventive healthcare strategies into their daily lives and inexpensively maintain frequent contact to monitor and reinforce such behavior. This model offers a distinctive mix of medical and behavioral science, presented in a non-intimidating, interactive system. It provides interesting, engaging, and informative features that tailor the behavior health change process to each individual to help them overcome the inherent difficulties in the behavioral and lifestyle change process. A variety of behavioral science and information technology innovations designed to engage individuals continuously in their own personalized prevention and lifestyle plans will be described. Health behavior change can use the viral characteristics of Web 2.0 which enable the creation of large social networks sharing common interests and providing mutual support. The explosion of social networks speaks to the popularity of network communication and the developing research base speaks to its effectiveness in supporting behavior change. The model also describes methods for creating frequent personalized contact with users on a large scale using a wide range of web-based applications. Contrasting with other models, which emphasize rational thought and make reasoned cases that individuals should adopt healthier behaviors, this model focuses on the emotional and automatic underpinnings of the behavioral choices that people make. Methods that help users connect emotionally with interactive media are described. Strategies are presented for maintaining interest and reducing attrition, including the use of intrigue, surprise, and an emphasis on graphical rather than textual interactions. While message tailoring is used by some web-based applications, it is suggested that to make full use of the interactive capabilities of Web 2.0, strategies informed by e-learning research and experience should be more fully utilized. Methods of tailoring messages to individuals using algorithms based on unique characteristics of users are described. The model also describes an interactive and intriguing process of assessment that goes beyond simply transferring paper and pencil instruments to a computer screen as is commonly done in many of today's web-based applications. By combining the capabilities of the Web 2.0 environment with a new model of behavior change based on years of e-learning research and development, a significant increase in effectiveness over current web-based health behavior change efforts can be obtained.