Noncommunicable diseases are the leading causes of illness and death worldwide and their prevalence among many developed countries, such as the United States, continues to rise. Much of the burden from NCDs such as cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity could be alleviated through changes in lifestyle behaviors such as refraining from smoking, reducing sedentary behavior, eating a healthy diet and taking medications as prescribed (to lower cholesterol or blood pressure).
Evidence shows that the successful design and implementation of theory-based interventions for health behavior change to initiate and sustain health conducive behaviors can lessen the negative impact of NCDs on individuals and society. Self-Determination Theory is one such framework used to understand and facilitate health behavior change and maintenance.
In this half-day, interactive workshop, we’ll introduce attendees to the primary tenets of SDT-based motivational interventions and how to apply them to research, clinical and digital settings. Through a combination of short lectures, demonstrations, and collaborative activities, participants will gain hands-on experience on how to facilitate patient autonomy, competence and relatedness and apply these techniques to the design of interventions for reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD-heart attacks and strokes) and other health concerns across a variety of channels.
At the end of this workshop, participants will (1) be able to identify the key elements of SDT-based interventions for lowering CVD risk; (2) have initial experience of how to facilitate patient autonomy and competence while reducing CVD risk; (3) be able to apply these techniques consistently across broader health contexts and delivery channels (4) be aware of challenges to implementing these interventions in research, clinical and digital settings.
