Theoretical Approaches Guiding the Development and Implementation of Health Promotion Programs

Abstract

This chapter describes several theories and models that have been used to explain behavior and to design health promotion and disease prevention programs. Behavioral theories are explanations of what influences people to do the things they do. Behavioral theories generally identify the determinants of behavior, that is, those factors that are thought to be causally related to the behavior. Theories may also identify the mechanisms by which the determinants influence the behavior. Theories are used in several ways to guide the researcher in deciding what research questions are important to ask and to guide the development, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion programs. Theories guide health promotion research by providing propositions about what behavioral factors are related to a health problem and what factors are important to address in working on the problem. For example, smoking is a behavior causally related to many types of cancer. To address smoking and cancer as a public health problem, health researchers and practitioners may ask such questions as: Why do people smoke? What influences people to start smoking? What makes it hard to stop smoking? Why don’t people quit in the face of so much information that it is dangerous? A theory can provide a starting place to look for answers to these questions.