The Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change)

The Transtheoretical Model (also chosen the Stages of Change Model), developed by Prochaska and DiClemente in the belatedly 1970s, evolved through studies examining the experiences of smokers who quit on their own with those requiring farther treatment to understand why some people were capable of quitting on their ain. It was determined that people quit smoking if they were ready to do so. Thus, the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) focuses on the decision-making of the individual and is a model of intentional change. The TTM operates on the assumption that people do not modify behaviors quickly and decisively. Rather, modify in behavior, especially habitual behavior, occurs continuously through a cyclical procedure. The TTM is not a theory just a model; different behavioral theories and constructs can exist applied to various stages of the model where they may be most effective.

The TTM posits that individuals move through six stages of alter: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, activity, maintenance, and termination. Termination was non part of the original model and is less oft used in application of stages of change for health-related behaviors. For each stage of change, unlike intervention strategies are near constructive at moving the person to the adjacent phase of change and afterward through the model to maintenance, the ideal stage of beliefs.

  1. Precontemplation - In this stage, people do not intend to accept action in the foreseeable future (defined equally within the next 6 months). People are often unaware that their beliefs is problematic or produces negative consequences. People in this phase frequently underestimate the pros of changing behavior and place too much emphasis on the cons of changing beliefs.
  2. Contemplation - In this stage, people are intending to offset the salubrious behavior in the foreseeable futurity (defined equally within the next vi months). People recognize that their behavior may be problematic, and a more thoughtful and applied consideration of the pros and cons of changing the behavior takes place, with equal emphasis placed on both. Even with this recognition, people may still feel clashing toward changing their beliefs.
  3. Preparation (Determination) - In this stage, people are gear up to accept activity within the side by side 30 days. People start to take small steps toward the behavior change, and they believe irresolute their behavior tin lead to a healthier life.
  4. Action - In this stage, people accept recently changed their behavior (divers every bit within the terminal six months) and intend to keep moving forrad with that behavior modify. People may exhibit this by modifying their problem behavior or acquiring new good for you behaviors.
  5. Maintenance - In this stage, people have sustained their behavior change for a while (divers as more than 6 months) and intend to maintain the beliefs change going forwards. People in this phase work to prevent relapse to earlier stages.
  6. Termination - In this stage, people have no desire to return to their unhealthy behaviors and are sure they will not relapse. Since this is rarely reached, and people tend to stay in the maintenance stage, this phase is oftentimes not considered in health promotion programs.

Stages of Change.png

To progress through the stages of change, people apply cognitive, melancholia, and evaluative processes. 10 processes of change take been identified with some processes being more relevant to a specific phase of change than other processes. These processes result in strategies that aid people make and maintain change.

  1. Consciousness Raising - Increasing awareness about the healthy behavior.
  2. Dramatic Relief - Emotional arousal about the health behavior, whether positive or negative arousal.
  3. Self-Reevaluation - Cocky reappraisal to realize the salubrious behavior is part of who they want to be.
  4. Environmental Reevaluation - Social reappraisal to realize how their unhealthy beliefs affects others.
  5. Social Liberation - Environmental opportunities that exist to show lodge is supportive of the healthy behavior.
  6. Self-Liberation - Commitment to change behavior based on the conventionalities that accomplishment of the healthy beliefs is possible.
  7. Helping Relationships - Finding supportive relationships that encourage the desired change.
  8. Counter-Workout - Substituting healthy behaviors and thoughts for unhealthy behaviors and thoughts.
  9. Reinforcement Management - Rewarding the positive behavior and reducing the rewards that come up from negative behavior.
  10. Stimulus Control - Re-engineering the surroundings to have reminders and cues that support and encourage the healthy behavior and remove those that encourage the unhealthy behavior.

Limitations of the Transtheoretical Model

At that place are several limitations of TTM, which should exist considered when using this theory in public health. Limitations of the model include the post-obit:

  • The theory ignores the social context in which change occurs, such as SES and income.
  • The lines betwixt the stages tin can be capricious with no set up criteria of how to decide a person's stage of modify. The questionnaires that have been developed to assign a person to a stage of change are not always standardized or validated.
  • There is no clear sense for how much time is needed for each stage, or how long a person tin remain in a stage.
  • The model assumes that individuals make coherent and logical plans in their determination-making process when this is not ever true.

The Transtheoretical Model provides suggested strategies for public health interventions to address people at diverse stages of the decision-making process. This can result in interventions that are tailored (i.e., a bulletin or program component has been specifically created for a target population'southward level of knowledge and motivation) and effective. The TTM encourages an assessment of an private's electric current phase of change and accounts for relapse in people's decision-making procedure.

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