Behaviour Change in Public Health: Evidence and Implications
1Brunel University, London, UK
2Monash University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia
Behaviour Change in Public Health: Evidence and Implications
Description
It has been shown that certain behaviour (e.g., smoking or binge drinking, not exercising enough, or even not seeking healthcare when needed) does have health effects. The pathways through which such behaviour could affect health are numerous. Understanding behaviour is complex and needs blends of methods from more than one academic discipline. There is already a vast body of interdisciplinary research, unpicking why individuals/households/community behave as they do. What is less well-known, however, is the interface between behaviour change and public health practice. For example,
- What would need to be known to design interventions supporting behaviour change?
- What behaviour change interventions are already available? Do we know enough about the “treatment” pathway? Do they affect desired short-, medium-, and long-term health outcomes?
- What are instruments/tools to examine behavioural change which have been psychometrically assessed for their reliability and validity?
- Do behaviour change interventions provide value for money?
In this special issue, we invite original research articles and review articles that will enhance our understanding of how behaviour change agenda could inform the way we practice public health at local, regional, and global levels.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Wider impacts of individual/household/community behaviours that affect health
- Trial-based or model-based or literature-based evaluation on the effectiveness of interventions/policies/practice that is aimed at supporting behaviour change
- Barriers to or facilitators of behaviour change interventions/policies
- Economic analysis of behaviour change, to include analysis of demand and social/financial incentives as well as analysis showing cost saving, cost effectiveness, cost utility, cost benefit, or return on investment of interventions
- Examples from the field on putting efficacious behavioural interventions into practice, to include implementation research, translational research, social science research, or any other interdisciplinary research
Potential applications include, but are not limited to lifestyle behaviours, for example, tobacco use, alcohol, diet, breastfeeding, and physical activity; sedentary behaviour; health seeking behaviour; self-harm behaviour; and so forth. Any other public health topic is equally welcome.