Cycle Of Change Model

The cycle of change model, developed by Prochaska and DiClemente, has six stages that an individual can expect to go through when changing their behaviours. Precontemplation; where an individual is unaware that a problem exists. There is no intention to change their behaviour. The aim here for a professional using this model, is to help the client to start thinking about his or her health issue such as smoking, so they simply ask a few questions such as, ‘Have you thought about quitting smoking?’. The contemplation stage is where the individual becomes aware that there is a problem surrounding their behaviour but they still have made no commitment to change. This is when the client may be ready to ask some questions and these are commonly,
why should I change, how can I change, and when should I change? Preparation, stage three, is when the individual has intent on taking action, and has an increase in self-efficacy, meaning that they believe they can make a change in their behaviour. The professional should provide the individual with information and support to help the client move into the action stage. The professional will apply their expert knowledge here. Action; when the client is now ready to make changes to their behaviour. They may look to specialists in supporting them, such as a dietician for someone wanting to lose weight or a smoking cessation specialist. In the maintenance stage, the sustained change has occurred and the new behaviours have begun to replace the old negative ones. It is at this stage that the professional needs to encourage the client, and suggest changes and modifications that could help them further. An individual can relapse at any stage, meaning that they have begun to return to their old patterns of behaviour. The professional should reinforce the benefits they have gained from already changing their behaviour, and set a new plan for the client to move on. The strengths of this model are that it is an easily interpreted strategy, adaptable to many different health behaviours and it is a most core-effective delivery for health coaching. However, there are also many disadvantages, and these are that it offers no explanation for causes, each stage has a questionable meaning, it is unclear how much time is needed for each stage and it assumes that all individuals make coherent and logical plans in their decision-making process.