Change management
Introduction
People’s health behaviors have a major impact on their ability to prevent and manage the various medical conditions that human beings face on a daily basis. It is therefore important for individuals to learn how their behaviors affect their overall health and what can be done to prevent health problems such as obesity or how to manage and even treat them when they occur. The management of obesity is of great importance not only because of the alarming numbers of obese people but also due to the complexity that is involved in managing the condition. According to the World Health Organization, about 13 percent of adults in the world are obese and 39 percent are overweight (Marques & Teixeira, 2018). Obesity and overweight adults face various medical challenges and a lot of medical cost is incurred in helping such individuals to manage their condition and lose weight. Although managing and reducing obesity is a complex task, it is something that can be achieved through the implementation of the stages of change model or the trans-theoretical model.
Overview
The stages of change theory, or trans-theoretical model, was introduced by Carlo DiClemente and James Prochaska in the 1970’s as they sought different ways in which they could help people stop smoking (Cohn & Russel, 2012). Although the theory first sought to stop smoking, it led to better understanding of the various behavioral changes that people go through as well as what can be done to bring about positive behavioral change. The theory is based on the assumption that when people go through life long changes, the change is often gradual and relapsing is often part of the process. The relapses are explained by people’s tendency to resist or unwillingness to accept change especially in the first stages of the change process (Cooper et al, 2018). However, if individuals are committed and remain proactive in their attempt to change a specific behavior, it is possible to change personal behaviors that promote medical issues such as obesity.
The first stage in the stages of change model is the pre-contemplation stage which is characterized by denial as people are yet to identify that their behavior is causing problems for their overall health. As a result, people do not consider making any changes because they either fail to see the need to change their behavior or have no idea the impact that changing behavior could have on their health (Mulholand, 2017). In the case of people with diabetes, the pre-contemplation stage is crucial as it calls attention to the risk that the individuals put on themselves with the decisions they make and how their behavior has led to issues of overweight and obesity. Pre-contemplation is followed by contemplation which is the stage in which people learn how their behaviors affect their health and what changes can be done to improve their overall health. Although people are more aware of the impact their actions and decisions have on their health, it is also the stage that people learn of the sacrifices, cost and changes that they will be required to make in order to bring about the desired change (Crowe Associates, 2018). As a result, most people fail to move past the contemplation stage because of all the work and changes that are required. In the case of people with diabetes, the contemplation stage is when the individuals learn of the harm that their diets have on their health, the importance of exercise and other elements that may be too challenging to take on without proper motivation.
The third stage in the model is the preparation stage where people start making significant changes to their behavior with the aim of achieving a larger and more permanent change. For obese individuals, the preparation stage involves switching to lower fat foods, exercise and seeking professional advice to mention a few (Cherry, 2018). In this stage, individuals seek advice from professionals like nutritionists, enrolling in health clubs, buying workout equipment, change in diets among other activities aimed to help in reducing weight. The preparation stage is therefore an information seeking stage which equips the individual with all the information required to bring about the desired change.
After preparation, the model moves on to the action stage where people are actively involved to achieve the goals set in the preparation stage. Obese individuals take actions such as eating healthier diets, engaging in physical activities and other forms of behavior aimed at cutting down weight. It is however important that individuals remain consistent with the planned set of actions set out to achieve a specific goal (Cherry, 2018). It is therefore important for trainers and medical professionals to keep motivating individuals to continue with the routines so as to have permanent results. Individuals should also come up with ways to motivate themselves so as to make the change more bearable and reduce the likelihood to quit half way through the process.
Once a positive change has been achieved, the next stage is to maintain the change so as to prevent the individual from going back to previous behaviors. At this stage, individuals are more confident in their ability to continue implementing the changes and are more determined to succeed. Obese people in this stage are more determined to get rid of any temptations that could trigger old habits (Cherry, 2018). By this time, the change has already started to take form and people are more aware of how their personal behavior and actions affect their health. They are also aware of what changes need to be made and what behavior needs to be maintained in order to achieve the goal set in the preparation stage in order to have good health. Although people in the maintenance stage are determined to maintain the positive change in their life, there is the final stage which is relapse where people may revert to old habits (Cherry, 2018). This often occurs when the change becomes too much or when individuals get tempted to revert back to their old habits. Although detrimental, relapse stage is common and people should not doubt their ability to change in case a relapse occurs. Instead, individuals should go back through the process and redefine their objectives again so as to have better control over the changes that come about and in so doing, maintain good health.
Strengths
The trans-theoretical model has various advantages, one of which is its ability to make people more aware about how their behavior affects their health. The stages help people get from a place of denial to one where they better understand the risks that their behaviors pose and what they can do to not only manage medical conditions like diabetes but also how to overcome negative outcomes resulting from their past behaviors (Bennet et al, 2015). Another advantage is that, the model helps develop positive attitudes towards health behavior in the case of both positive and negative outcomes. If individuals get positive feedback after undergoing behavior changes, the model helps them to continue with the positive behaviors so as to ensure that they maintain good health. If the outcome is negative, for example during relapse, the model gives guidelines on how the individual can go back and start from the first stage with more conviction and a well laid out plan to ensure that the negative outcomes do not reoccur.
Self-liberation is another advantage whereby the model helps individuals to not only believe that achieving a healthy behavior is possible but also that it is something that they can achieve with just a few alterations to their behavior. Although some may seek professional help, the model gives most of the control to the individual and this makes it easier and more fulfilling when they meet their goals (Cherry, 2018). Through the model, people not only get to know how changing behavior promotes health but also gives them the satisfaction that they actively engaged in something that promoted their overall health. Lastly, the model is advantageous in that rewards the positive behavioral change by helping individuals lead healthier lives. In the case of people with obesity, the rewards could come in the form of lost weight and this can greatly help in reducing the challenges that come with being obese.
Weaknesses
Despite its success in bringing about behavioral change, the trans-theoretical model has various disadvantages that could affect its effectiveness. To begin with, the model fails to account for constraints that could make it difficult for people to stick to the changes they make (Bennet et al, 2015). Financial constraints for instance in cases where individuals have to change their diets and going to the gym could become too difficult and prevent the changes in behavior. The desire to change behavior and improve one’s health can therefore be challenged by the cost and other factors that may be too difficult to take on.
Another disadvantage has to do with the lack of clarity in the model on how individuals transition from one stage of the process to the next. Although the model goes into detail explaining what each stage involves, it does little to explain how to identify the end of one stage and the beginning of another (Cohn & Russel, 2012). People therefore have a hard time identifying which stage of the model they are in and this makes it difficult to determine what actions to take depending on the stages. There is also the limitation in lack of clarity regarding how much time should be spent in the specific stages. Since it is not clear how long one should stay in specific stages, people may spend too much or too little time on one stage and end up affecting the efficiency and success of the process.
Lastly, the theory is based on the assumption that people make logical and coherent plans in their decision making and will therefore see out the entire process. However, people have the tendency to deviate from their own goals and objectives especially when the results take too long or are not what was expected (Cohn & Russel, 2012). Often times, the risk to health and negative behaviors are as a result of the bad decisions that people make. In the case of obesity, some individuals may be aware that their lifestyles contribute to their poor health but still keep engaging in them because they have become a norm. assuming that people will do the right and logical thing is therefore a risk as one can never anticipate what decision people will make and the behavioral change could be ineffective especially because most of the control is given to the individual.
Brief history of the client’s problem
The client in question has had an issue with obesity due to his eating habits. Despite having struggled with overweight issue and other problems caused by obesity, the client finds it difficult to commit to a lifestyle that will help him manage his condition. Over the years, the client has tried various methods to try and manage the obesity. Some of the solutions that he has tried include going to the gym, jogging and other physical activities in an attempt to lose weight. However, the client tends to quit any attempt to lead a healthier life because he has adjusted to a lifestyle that makes it easier to live with his obesity.
The challenges that the client has had when trying to commit to the decision to lose weight is mainly because he lacked a systematic and detailed guide on what he can do to get the desired outcomes. If the client was to use the trans-theoretical model, he would have a system to follow and steps to take in order to manage his diabetes. This is especially because the model not only helps the client to manage the condition, but also brings about behavioral change that does away with lifestyles that promote overweight and obesity. It is therefore the most applicable model and could likely have the best outcomes if implemented appropriately.
Conclusion
Change management has had appositive impact in helping people with different medical conditions to manage and lead healthy lives. This is especially because the change targets people’s behavior that promotes the existence and development of the medical conditions. While treating a disease is made easier by the different forms of medical treatments, change management focuses on the bigger picture and targets the individual’s behavior. In the case of obesity, helping clients change their behavior and lifestyles ensure that individuals abandon destructive eating habits and pick up activities such as physical exercise. Change management is therefore effective because it not only helps resolve medical challenges that clients may be facing but also ensures that such challenges do not occur in future.
References
Bennet P, Dunbar J, Gillison F, Greaves C and Perry R, (2015) “Process of behavior change and weight loss in a theory based weight loss intervention program: A test of the process model for lifestyle behavior change” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, retrieved from, https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-014-0160-6
Cherry K, (2018) “The 6 stages of behavior change” retrieved from, https://www.verywellmind.com/the-stages-of-change-2794868
Cohn R and Russell J, (2012) “Transtheoretical model” Book on Demand, print
Cooper M, Epner K, Horvath T and Misra K, (2018) “Motivation for change: The stages of change model” retrieved from, https://www.centersite.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=48539&cn=1408
Crowe Associates, (2018) “Behavior change theory” retrieved from, http://www.crowe- associates.co.uk/coaching-and-mentoring-skills/1346-2/
Gillison, F., Stathi, A., Reddy, P., Perry, R., Taylor, G., Bennett, P., ... Greaves, C. (2015). Processes of behavior change and weight loss in a theory-based weight loss intervention program: a test of the process model for lifestyle behavior change. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-014-0160-6
Mulholand B, (2017) “Eight critical change management models to evolve and survive” retrieved from, https://www.process.st/change-management-models/
Teixeira, P. J., & Marques, M. M. (2017). Health Behavior Change for Obesity Management. Obesity facts, 10(6), 666-673.
