Changing health-related behaviour is essential given the strong influence that lifestyle and behaviours exert on health, illness, and mortality. Changing behaviour sounds like a relatively easy thing to do and if people were rational and predictable then changing their behaviour to enable them to live healthier and longer lives would be quite simple. However, people are complex and their behaviour is influenced by diverse environmental and social factors, different skills and capabilities, and individual beliefs, desires, and impulses. This makes behaviour change a huge challenge (that can lead to “despair”). Changing behaviour requires an awareness of this complexity and a deep understanding of how these multiple influencing factors combine in order to develop interventions that have the best chance of being effective.
In this lecture, Professor Madelynne Arden will investigate the evidence underpinning interventions to change health behaviours and consider which approaches might be most effective. She will draw on collaborative research conducted over the past 18 years to highlight the importance of exploring the barriers to behaviour and of using psychological theory and research to devise effective and practical interventions. She will also reflect on some of the challenges of working in this field and how the work can be applied in contexts beyond health.
Link to book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/professor-madelynne-arden-inaugural-lecture-tickets-43698401094