Changing habits to improve health

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/osu-cht111015.php

Public Release: 10-Nov-2015
Changing habits to improve health: New study indicates behavior changes work
Oregon State University

Improving your heart health may be as simple as making small behavioral changes - a new study of behavioral health interventions suggests that they are effective at helping people alter their lifestyles and lead to physical changes that could improve overall health.

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Behavioral treatments such as individual counseling or group training to improve nutrition or physical activity, reduce or stop smoking, or adhere to a drug treatment plan, often are overlooked because medical care providers tend to believe it is too difficult for people the make changes to their established lifestyles, said Irvin, an assistant professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at OSU.

But large clinical drug trials for potential new medications often fail to show that those treatments make patients better, and drugs sometimes are associated with undesirable side effects, she said. Modification of health behavior is another option for health providers and their patients, Irvin explained, but is underutilized in clinical medical practice as well as in public health policy because many providers remain unconvinced that people can change their behavior to improve their health.

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More than 80 percent of the randomized clinical trials that included a behavioral intervention reported a significant improvement for the targeted behavior and a significant physiological impact such a reduction in weight or blood pressure. Greater improvements were observed when the intervention simultaneously targeted two behaviors, such as nutrition and physical activity, which are considered lifestyle behaviors.

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