Section 7. Supporting and Maintaining Behavior Change

Action is impossible because circumstances won't permit it.

The necessary action is too complex.

The action is too hard for people to undertake on their own.

The action takes too much time.

The action isn't important to the target population.

The action is regularly forgotten.

Address the issues that make action impossible (change the circumstances).

Simplify the action, either by breaking it down into manageable pieces, or by providing the background necessary to understand it.

Support people - with support groups, mentoring, etc. - in taking difficult action .

Use more efficient or more creative and flexible planning and scheduling.

Use marketing to increase the urgency of the action in the target population's perception.

Institutionalize reminders so that people can remember to act.

The consequences are unsatisfactory:

• Unrealistic expectations aren't met
• Outcomes are hard to detect
• Outcomes are deferred
• Outcomes are hard to see because they're the absence of something

There are excessive negative consequences, either greater than anticipated, or unexpected.

Influential people give negative feedback about the change.

Behavior control is less than expected because of the system or the self.

For unsatisfactory consequences:

• Clarify realistic expectations
• Make the invisible visible, or adjust behavior to obtain the desired results
• Break along-term goal up into manageable pieces, with benchmarks
• Emphasize the consequences of the presence of what you're trying to prevent

Help people control negative consequences with information, alternative plans, and skills.

Market to influential people as well as the target population from the outset.

Set up the system to provide support and to help develop internal personal resources .