The Sphere Study: Using Psychological Theory to Inform the Development of Behaviour Change Training for Primary Care Staff to Increase Secondary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract

There is significant potential for health psychology to inform the development of health behaviour-change interventions. Yet many behavioural interventions reported in the literature are not informed by theory, fail to make explicit how theoretical constructs are operationalised and/or do not describe behaviour-change techniques in enough detail to enable replication. This paper outlines one example of a behaviour-change intervention that was informed by psychological theory, and attempts to make its constructs and techniques explicit. The intervention described is one component of a larger, multifaceted intervention study, called SPHERE, which is targeting organisational, educational and behavioural aspects of primary care on the island of Ireland to improve secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. This paper describes the development of an intervention to improve primary care practitioners’ ability to facilitate patients with coronary heart disease improve their lifestyles. The paper reviews health psychology theories in the area of behaviour change, and desribes the process of intervention development and refinement. The paper ends with suggestions about making health psychology theory more accessible to interventionists.