Changing Health-Related Behaviors 3: Lessons from Implementation Science.

Abstract

Health-related behavior change refers to a body of behavior change strategies that aim to align people's behavior with advances in evidence-based knowledge and decision-making. However, human behavior is complex, and changing it often requires a combination of strategies to be effective. The challenge is in choosing the combination of strategies that will work best. Implementation science, the study of behavior change, has rapidly expanded in recent years and has pioneered work in providing more transparent and theory-based methods for choosing and evaluating behavior change strategies. There are several models and frameworks that underlie the science of implementation, the most recent and comprehensive of which include the Implementation of Change Model, the COM-B (capability, motivation, and behavior) Model, and the Theoretical Domains Framework, as well as the behavior change techniques (BCTs) taxonomy. These models and frameworks can be applied to help support the development and evaluation of behavior change interventions. In this chapter, we will review the latest advances and lessons learned from implementation science as it applies to health-related behavior change.