Relationships, jobs, and health behaviors-these are what New Year's resolutions are made of. Every year millions resolve to adopt a better diet, exercise more, become fit, or lose weight but few put into practice the health behaviors they aspire to. For those who successfully begin, the likelihood that they will maintain these habits is low. Healthcare professionals recognize the importance of these, and other, health behaviors but struggle to provide their patients with the tools necessary for successful maintenance of their medical regimens. The thousands of research papers that exist on patient adherence and health behavior change can leave professionals overwhelmed.
This book synthesizes the results from more than 50 years of empirical research, resulting in simple, powerful, and practical guidance for health professionals who want to know the most effective strategies for helping their clients to put long-term health-relevant behavior changes into practice. It advocates a straightforward 3-ingredient model: Before a person can change, they must (1) know what change is necessary (information); (2) desire the change (motivation); and then (3) have the tools to achieve and maintain the change (strategy). This book is designed to be informative and compelling, but its numerous anecdotes and examples render it engaging and entertaining, as well.
Written for a practitioners and students of medicine, chiropractic, osteopathy, nursing, health education, physician assistant programs, dentistry, clinical and health psychology, marriage and family counseling, social work, school psychology, and care administrators -- and for lay persons who wish to take an active role in their health, this book brings together major empirically-based findings within the field and provides succinct, evidence-based recommendations and strategies for using these findings to make real changes.

Better health all around-this is what clinicians and patients, alike, desire. But achieving and maintaining good health can be difficult task, as this requires the adoption of behaviours, habits, and lifestyles that are challenging for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most vital tool in the delivery of healthcare, despite its low-tech nature, is communication-it plays an important role in informing, motivating, and ultimately achieving optimal health behaviours. This edited volume brings together top-notch scientists and practitioners to explain and illustrate the state-of-the-art in the interfaces of health communication, behaviour change, and treatment adherence. The Oxford Handbook of Health Communication, Behaviour Change, and Treatment Adherence presents a three-factor model that includes information, motivation, and strategy. If individuals are to engage in health-promoting behaviours they must be informed and know what they should do and how to do it. But information is not enough-individuals must want to carry out those behaviours, they must be motivated to do so. Finally, people must have the resources to do those things that they know are good and that they desire to do-barriers must be minimized or removed and effective strategies and support systems put into place. Although these three elements are broadly applicable, their details will necessarily vary; the second major section of the handbook therefore revisits health behaviour change and treatment adherence from the perspective of different points in the lifespan and in the context of comorbidities. Readers will find in this handbook a synthesis of cutting-edge empirical research and demonstrably effective applications, solidly grounded in theory. Clearly written by some of the best scholars and professionals in the field, this volume is accessible, highly informative, and a must-have for understanding the ins-and-outs of health communication, behaviour change, and treatment adherence.