Transtheoretical Model of Change

Running head: TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL OF CHANGE
Transtheoretical Model of Change
Name of the Student
Name of University
Author’s note

1
TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL OF CHANGE
Introduction
The following essay is based on the case study of Harry, a 58-year old male who is about
to undergo hip replacement surgery tomorrow. He is 165 kilogram in weight and his obesity s
impacting his overall health. I am allocated to care for him for the next 4 days of his stay in the
surgical ward. My aim is to support Harry through the stages of the change cycle in order bring
change in his health habits. Bringing change in health habits of Harry is important as he reports
that he has accepted his obesity and has eternal love for food. Moreover, he is a chef which
makes him stay around food all the day, increasing his food cravings. The main change mode
that will be used in this formal essay is transtheoretical model of change under evidence-based
framework and this will be followed by the identification of the components of motivational
interviewing in order to assist Harry to make change in his health behaviour.
Discussion
This is the most commonly applied model of change and is composed of five stages.
This theory helps in understanding the behaviour of a people and the compatible interventions in
order to change that behaviour. In this case, the change in behaviour will be done for the
improving the overall health and well-being (Brannon, Feist & Updegraff, 2014). The first stage
of this model of change is pre-contemplation (no intension of change). Under this stage, change
has not been considered and the person might not understand whether the change is possible or
might not have interest to bring change (Prochaska, Redding, & Evers, 2015). In case of Harry,
he is not interest to bring change in his body weight as he said that, “I’ve been overweight for
years and that’s just how I am....”. He has also expressed his love for food by stating that, “I
love food and I am a chef, so I am around food all day long” and thus indicating that he is not

2
TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL OF CHANGE
considering the urgency to change his dietary habits for improving his life style and bring change
in his body mass index (BMI). The hunger or craving for food in case of Harry is psychology
factors and not by biological factors. Being a chef he is always round food and he also loves
food. This though and fantasies of food is inflicting the sensation of hunger in the hypothalamus.
Since there is no biological need behind the infliction of hunger, his excessive food consumption
is increasing is BMI. The second stage of the change model is contemplation (intention to
change). Under this stage something might happen in the life of the concerned person in order to
think about the change seriously (Prochaska, Redding, & Evers, 2015). In life of Harry, one
serious health related issue that is serious enough to inflict the initiation of change include hip
replacement surgery that is most attributed to his obese body. However, Harry is in-different to
bring change in his lifestyle. The third stage of the cycle is preparation and this includes
preparation of bringing change in the lifestyle habits (Prochaska, Redding, & Evers, 2015).
Preparation of Harry for bringing change in the lifestyle habits must be done with the help of the
motivational interviewing. The motivational interviewing must be done under the perspective of
the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the first and
foremost in the life of a person is physiological needs. The main physiological needs are air,
water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing and reproduction in order to maintain healthy lifestyle
(D'Souza & Gurin, 2016). However, according to the case study, the health condition of Harry is
poor as he is obese and his weight issues are endangering his life like hip replacement surgery.
High BMI and obesity post-surgery will delay the recovery process and at the same time high
BMI or obesity increase the risk of developing cardio-vascular disease, respiratory disease,
osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes mellitus (Fiori, Martinez & Carissimi, 2018). Thus in order to
influence his physiological needs, his esteem need, second position from the top of the hierarchy