Relapse Prevention: implication for health promotion professionals

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
James M. Eddy, Department Head and Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: Health promotion and education efforts often are designed to promote behavior changes among clients, students, or participants. The primary emphasis of health promotion has been the initial behavior change process, with little attention directed to follow-up or aftercare. The relapse prevention model (RP) presents a strategy to enhance the likelihood of maintaining a behavior change using methods clearly rooted in social learning theory. This article provides an overview of the RP model and examples of the implication of RP for health promotion and education programs. ealth education has been defined as any combination of learning experiences designed to facilitate voluntary adaptations of behavior.1 Thus, the primary emphasis has been on prevention or early intervention to help people to maintain healthy lifestyles or to change behaviors to reduce risk prior to a diseased state. Theoretical underpinnings of health education have focused on how learning takes place and how learning leads to influencing behavior.2 Health education efforts have not been directly involved in the treatment or the rehabilitation of individuals with regard to maladaptive behavior, however, the two fields draw from the same theories to explain, prevent, and/or remediate behaviors related to health. This article addresses the relapse prevention model (RP), including the basic tenets of the model, as it relates to treatment of maladaptive behaviors. Finally, additional skills proposed by the RP model that may be utilized in health education programs are suggested.

Additional Information

Publication
Health Values, 13, 5, 8-13
Language: English
Date: 1989
Keywords
health promotion, health education, relapse prevention

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