Facilitating Patient Behavior Change in Clinical Nutritional Management

2005

Richard Fleming
[email protected]
774-455-6530

In Press: Bronner, F. (Ed.) Nutrition and Clinical Management of Chronic Conditions and Diseases. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2005. Effective nutritional management is of critical importance in the treatment of patients with chronic conditions and diseases.5,6 However, for a great many patients, starting and sustaining new nutritional regimens at home and work requires a significant change in behavior, for which they need support. Patients must be able to accept clinician-recommended behavior change, understand what needs to be done differently, establish these changes in their daily lives, receive feedback on progress and sustain the changes over time. Psychologists have long been concerned with the challenges associated with initiating and sustaining behavior change and have been active in developing and testing approaches for increasing patient adherence to medical regimens.7,8 This chapter: (a) discusses behavioral challenges facing patients, and the role of clinicians, in clinical nutritional management; (b) summarizes relevant psychological theory that emphasizes applied behavior analysis and social cognitive theory approaches; (c) provides a selective review of research on simple and comprehensive behavioral interventions used to promote nutritional adherence; (d) presents a practical, evidence-based model for promoting patient adherence; and (e) concludes and identifies important areas for future research and practice.

Book, Other

N/A