ESSAY : Client Ms. Smith

Prior to completing this discussion, please read Chapter 1: Individual Theories, Chapter 2: Understanding Population health from Multilevel and Community-Based Models, and Chapter 3: Psychosocial Predictors of Behavior Change in Hilliard, Riekert, Ockene, and Pbert (2018). Be sure to also read Richert, Schüz, and Schüz (2013) Stages of Health Behavior Change and Mindsets: A Latent Class Approach (Links to an external site.), and any relevant Instructor Guidance.

Theories help health professionals with understanding, predicting, and maintaining healthy behaviors. By adopting healthy behaviors, many diseases and illnesses can be prevented. However, it is still confusing to many health professionals why some people are successful in adopting and maintaining healthy behaviors and why others are not. No one theory can explain everything; therefore, sometimes two behavior change models may need to be utilized in the application process (Hilliard, Riekert, Ockene, & Pbert, 2018). In this discussion, use the client avatar you created in Week 1 and address the following prompt:

Identify two to three behaviors you would like to see your client avatar change. Select one behavior change model, as described in Hilliard, Riekert, Ockene, and Pbert (2018), “Handbook of Health Behavior Change”, and explain the major components of this model and why it was selected. Compare and contrast this model with two other models discussed in the text.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Ms. Smith has a problem with isolating herself at home and not getting out to interact with other people. She needs help to enable her to reach out to friends and relatives for social support. Due to her high-stress levels, she has resorted to emotional eating, ending up ingesting unhealthy foods for convenience purposes resulting to obesity. She should be helped to change this behavior so that she can redirect her emotions into a healthy lifestyle.
Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory helps to understand how individual shapes and is shaped by the immediate environment. It is based on the processes of observational learning and modeling and how self-efficacy influences the development of behavior. Its main component is that through observational learning, individuals learn desirable and undesirable behaviors and…