Looking past the pandemic: Could building on our willingness to change translate to healthier lives?

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that people have the capacity to change entrenched behaviors when the stakes are high enough. Who among us declared that 2020 would be the year for us to perfect the practice of physical distancing? Although we were clueless about pandemic practices a mere three months ago, we’ve adopted this new habit to avoid getting or spreading the virus. But what about other unhealthy behaviors that have the potential to shorten life spans across the US? On January 1, 2020, some of us made New Year’s resolutions aimed at improving our health: to eat less, lose weight, exercise more, drink less alcohol, stop using tobacco, get more sleep, start meditating regularly, schedule that colonoscopy, and so on. Might there be hope for gaining traction with one or more of these healthy behaviors, too? Moving from clueless to changing behavior Health psychologists and addiction medicine professionals like me use a standard model of behavioral change to understand how people move from a mindset of cluelessness to one of action. Predictably, we pass through the following six stages of change: Precontemplation (“Life is short — there’s nothing I need to change.”) Contemplation (“I suppose I should consider making a change.”) Preparation (“The time to make this change is very close. Here’s my plan.”) Action (“I’ve done it. I hope I can keep it up.”) Maintenance (“I can make this work for as long as I need to; I’ll ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Addiction Behavioral Health Healthy Aging Healthy Eating Heart Health Source Type: blogs