Transtheoretical Model of Health Behaviour Change

This essay focuses on the Transtheoretical Model of Health Behaviour Change and Motivational Interviewing Principles to assist an obese patient in achieving positive health outcomes.

Running head: TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL OF HEALTH BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL OF HEALTH BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL OF HEALTH BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
Introduction
As postulated by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2018), approximately 1.9
million individuals, old than the age of 18 were found to be overweight and obese, with
prevalence rates tripling since the year 1975. The following essay will focus upon assisting
Harry, an obese patient, with achieving positive health outcomes, using the Stages of Change
Model and Motivational Interviewing Principles.
Discussion
About Obesity
Obesity is a condition where an individual acquires gains excessive amount of weight due
to the abnormal accumulation of adipose or fat tissues on the body. Lack of management can
increase the risk of patients like Harry to acquire chronic health issues like diabetes,
cardiovascular disorders and diseases of the liver and kidney (Buchmueller & Johar, 2015).
Causes of Obesity
According to the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA, 2019), obesity occurs due to
consumption of excessive amount of food than needed along with excessive consumption of high
sugar, high fat, and high sodium foods, as observed in Harry.
Management
It is evident that Harry is in the Precontemplation Stage, where participants are generally
unaware and unwilling to accept the need for change (Prochaska, Redding & Evers, 2015). To
combat his reluctance, the health professional can apply motivational interview principles of

2TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL OF HEALTH BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
empathy and discrepancy in order to make Harry understand that his problem is being
understood and that his present goals of a healthy and successful personal and professional life as
a chef will be negatively impacted due to his present eating habits (Lundahl et al., 2019). One
Harry feels motivated and determined to change his behaviours and transition to contemplation,
preparation and action stages, the health professional must collaborate with him to work towards
achieving personal dietary goals (Resnicow et al., 2015). Further, motivational interviewing
principles of self efficacy will allow the health professional to motivate Harry to take control or
autonomy over his own behaviour changes so that his tendency to show reluctance and a relapse
to previous behaviours reduces as per the Change stages of Action, Maintenance and
Termination (Friman, Huck & Olsson, 2017).
Conclusion
While obesity is a treatable condition, there are instances where patients like Harry may
be feel reluctant to practice health behaviour change. Thus to conclude, this paper demonstrates
that with the help of motivational interviewing and stages of change model, clincians can assist
in patients to feel motivated to achieve positive health outcomes.

3TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL OF HEALTH BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
References
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Friman, M., Huck, J., & Olsson, L. (2017). Transtheoretical model of change during travel
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(2019). Motivational interviewing adherence tools: A scoping review investigating
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Prochaska, J. O., Redding, C. A., & Evers, K. E. (2015). The transtheoretical model and stages of
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Resnicow, K., McMaster, F., Bocian, A., Harris, D., Zhou, Y., Snetselaar, L., ... & Hollinger, D.
(2015). Motivational interviewing and dietary counseling for obesity in primary care: an
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WHO. (2019). Obesity and overweight. Retrieved 13 September 2019, from
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