What the guide does not tell you: reflections on and lessons learned from applying the COM-B behavior model for designing real life interventions. Issue 5 (17th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Whittal, Amanda; Atkins, Lou; Herber, Oliver Rudolf
• Is Part Of: Translational behavioral medicine. Volume 11:Issue 5(2021)
• Page Start: 1122
• Page End: 1126
• Publication Date: 2020-11-17
• Subjects: COM-B behavior model -- Behavior change wheel -- Methodological discussion -- Complex intervention design -- Lessons learned; Medicine and psychology -- Periodicals; 616.0019
• DOI: 10.1093/tbm/ibaa116
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1869-6716

Abstract

Abstract: Substantial inconsistency exists in the effectiveness of existing interventions to improve heart failure (HF) self-care, which can be partially explained by the fact that self-management interventions often lack theoretical models that underpin intervention development. The COM-B behavior model is a comprehensive theoretical framework that can be used to develop effective, theory-based interventions. The aim of this article is to highlight the challenges and practical solutions when applying the COM-B model to HF self-care, in order to provide useful support for researchers intending to use the model for designing behavior change interventions. "The Behaviour Change Wheel" handbook provides a step-by-step guide to understand and change behavior. When following the guide, some practical and methodological challenges were encountered. Lessons learnt to overcome these challenges are reported. Although the handbook is a comprehensive guide for designing behavior change interventions, a number of challenges arose. For example, the descriptions provided in the guide were not always sufficient to make solid judgments on how to categorize determinants; narrowing down intervention possibilities to a manageable number and prioritizing potential behavior change techniques over others involved a certain amount of subjectivity in an otherwise highly systematic and structured approach. For the encountered challenges, solutions are provided to illustrate how the model was applied practically to design theory-based behavior change interventions. This article provides a useful reference for researchers' use of the COM-B behavior model, as it outlines challenges that may occur and potential solutions to overcome them. Abstract : This article documents the process of using the Behaviour Change Wheel guide to design a heart failure self-care intervention and the decisions we had to make to fill in the missing information the guide does not provide.