Tag: behaviour change
Maslow did not create Maslow’s pyramid
Three weeks before, I had to unlearn my learning about Maslow’s pyramid; it is not his. He did not build it to explain his theory about human motivation; “Maslow did not build a pyramid to explain his theory”. I read about it for the first time in a Scientific American…
Swiss Cheese Model for COVID-19
The Swiss Cheese Model for COVID-19 is an excellent mental tool to visualize COVID-19 prevention strategies at the system level, a bird’s eye view. First, about the Swiss Cheese Model. As emphasized by James Reason, the model’s creator, it invites us to view human errors as a consequence, not as…
The legendary journey of the Ottawa Charter
Above are logos of the global health promotion conferences held in different cities in the world since 1986. Thirty years have passed since its inception in 1986. As its name implies, the first one was launched in Ottawa, Canada. This post sails through to peer back into the Charter’s legendary…
How social norms shape our behavior
You must have been in a library; you stay silent. That is a classic social norm example. Another common one is littering. As we all know social norms can either be socially desirable or socially undesirable. Every day we adhere to social norms that are an array of unwritten sets…
Theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour
Can we change behaviour by changing attitudes? Not really, contrary to popular belief. The connection between attitude and behaviour is complex. In the 1960s, Fishbein and Ajzen explored the connection between attitude and behaviour. Based on the findings, they developed a theory to explain the connection between the two. It…
Stages of Self-Change
Although behaviour change occurs in a continuum, researchers have identified stages of self-change in some behaviours such as quitting smoking. Let us embark on this journey starting 37 years ago: In 1983. 1983: “Stages of change” Since the early 1980s, two researchers – James Prochaska and Carlos DiClemente – had…
Health belief model
The Health Belief Model (HBM) is a mental tool. It helps us to create messages to persuade others to start healthier habits. It also helps us to design upstream public health interventions. In this blog post, we will explore, Health Belief Model’s origins The model has a rich history. It…
