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Introduction Brief Clinical Interventions Beginning the Brief Clinical Intervention Stages of Change Stages of Change Information 4 A’s, 5 R’s SOC & Main Interventions Quick Reference Active Living BCI Tool using Stages of Change Healthy Eating, Healthy Weights BCI Tool using Stages of Change Low Risk Drinking BCI Tool using Stages of Change Tobacco-free Living Smoking Cessation Intervention (4 A’s Program) BCI Tool using Stages of Change Resource Options Links Health Promotion Calendar Health Connection Flyer Call to Action Health Professionals –Take the Challenge Endnotes

Stages of Change

A growing role for health professionals is to assist clients to understand how behaviour changes to healthier lifestyles can prevent and manage chronic diseases.

Behaviour changes to healthier lifestyles do not happen as single events, but occur in stages gradually over time. Change is not a linear process. People may cycle through the stages of change a number of times before behaviours become permanent.

Goal for health professionals (HP):
Provide information about healthy lifestyles to clients using knowledge about the stages of change, along with [brief] motivational interviewing strategies to support clients to move through the stages of change towards maintenance of healthy lifestyle behaviours. 10

Staging the Client

It is important to identify the stage the client is in so that the client’s thinking and readiness to change matches the interventions.

Client Profiles in each stage of change give you:

  • timelines for change acceptable to the client
  • client’s thinking process related to the lifestyle behaviour

Your advice or assistance should provide information to make the client examine a current lifestyle behaviour. This may prompt the client to think about changing an unhealthy lifestyle behaviour to a healthier one.

 Interventions in each stage of change give you:

  • options for providing advice
  • options for providing assistance

 

 

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