Precede Proceed

• Product: Consuming more fruits and vegetables each day to minimize the risk of cancer and improve health status • Price: The costs of eating a healthier diet (e.g., financial cost of buying fruits and vegetables, time cost of shopping for and

• Place: Grocery stores and other points of purchase (the 5 A Day message and healthy foods compete against unhealthy products for space and attention) • Promotion: Branding the 5 A Day campaign to increase awareness (e.g., using a slogan and compelling images that are easy to recall)

39

Distribution channels include mass media advertising, public service announcements, newsletters, the Internet, magazines, press conferences, outreach activities, special events, and community-based groups, such as churches. Regular monitoring and evaluation help to assess the reach and impact of messages; efficient use of time, labor, and capital resources; and program costs/benefits.

PRECEDE-PROCEED PRECEDE-PROCEED is a planning model, not a theory. It does not predict or explain factors linked to the outcomes of interest, but offers a framework for identifying intervention strategies to address these factors. Developed by Green, Kreuter, and associates,53 PRECEDE-PROCEED provides a road map for designing health education and health promotion programs. It guides planners through a process that starts with desired outcomes and works backwards to identify a mix of strategies for achieving objectives. (See http://lgreen.net/index.html.) Because the model views health behavior as influenced by both individual and environmental forces, it has two distinct parts: an “educational diagnosis”

PUTTING THEORY AND PRACTICE TOGETHER

The California 5 A Day Campaign, which was the model for the national 5 A Day program,50 employs social marketing to increase Californians’ consumption of fruit and vegetables through strategies such as supermarket point-of-purchase interventions, industry promotional support, media outreach, and community programs.51 Several features of this program have been well-received.52 First, it has a focused goal: to increase fruit and vegetable consumption by raising awareness of the health benefits. Second, its approach is built on an established theoretical framework—the Stages of Change model. Third, messages were designed and disseminated using consumer-driven communications strategies. Fourth, formative research (mall intercept interviews, focus groups, and baseline survey data) helped the planners to understand their audiences and improve messages. Lastly, the program uses the four Ps of social marketing:

preparing them, psychological cost of “worrying” about getting the recommended number of servings)

PART 3

As an approach that promotes behavior change through voluntary exchange and positive reinforcement, social marketing borrows substantively from behavior change theory. Behavioral theory offers insights into the current behavior of target market members and what might influence or change that behavior. For example, a social marketer who references Social Cognitive Theory might examine how self-efficacy and expectations about the outcome of a behavior factor into certain health practices within a target market.

THEORY AT A GLANCE

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(PRECEDE) and an “ecological diagnosis” (PROCEED). The PRECEDE acronym stands for Predisposing, Reinforcing, Enabling Constructs in Educational/ Environmental Diagnosis and Evaluation. Developed in the 1970s, this component of the model posits that an educational diagnosis is needed to design a health promotion intervention, just as a medical diagnosis is needed to design a treatment plan. PROCEDE stands for Policy, Regulatory, and Organizational Constructs in Educational and Environmental Development. This element was added to the framework later, in 1991, to take into account the impact of environmental factors on health. Together, these two

Figure 9.

components of the model help practitioners plan programs that exemplify an ecological perspective. PRECEDE-PROCEED has nine steps. The first five steps are diagnostic, addressing both educational and environmental issues. These include: (1) social assessment, (2) epidemiological assessment, (3) behavioral and environmental assessment, (4) educational and ecological assessment, and (5) administrative and policy assessment. The last four comprise implementation and evaluation of health promotion intervention. These include: (6) implementation, (7) process evaluation, (8) impact evaluation, and (9) outcome evaluation. (See Figure 9.)

The PRECEDE-PROCEED Model

PRECEDE STEP 5

STEP 4

STEP 3

STEP 2

STEP 1

Administration and Policy Diagnosis

Educational and Ecological Assessment

Behavioral and Environmental Assessment

Epidemiological Assessment

Social Assessment

Health

Quality of life

Health Promotion Health education

Policy regulation organization

Predisposing factors

Reinforcing factors

Enabling factors

Behavior and lifestyle

Environment

STEP 6

STEP 7

STEP 8

STEP 9

Implementation

Process Evaluation

Impact Evaluation

Outcome Evaluation

PROCEED

Source: Green LW, Kreuter MW, 1999.

• Enabling factors, which enable persons to act on their predispositions; these factors include available resources, supportive policies, assistance, and services. • Reinforcing factors, which come into play after a behavior has been initiated; they encourage repetition or persistence of behaviors by providing continuing rewards or incentives. Social support, praise, reassurance, and symptom relief might all be considered reinforcing factors.

In Educational and Ecological Assessment, the practitioner identifies antecedent and reinforcing factors that must be in place to initiate and sustain change. Behavior—such as reducing intake of dietary fat, engaging in routine physical activity, and obtaining annual mammograms—is shaped by predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors. Practitioners can use individual, interpersonal, or community-level change theories to classify determinants of behavior into one of these three categories and rank their importance. Because each type of factor requires different intervention strategies, classifying them helps practitioners consider how to address community needs. The three types of influencing factors include:

The four remaining steps of PRECEDEPROCEED comprise program implementation and evaluation. Before Implementation (Step 6) begins, practitioners should prepare plans for evaluating the process (Step 7), impact (Step 8), and outcome (Step 9) of the intervention. Process Evaluation gauges the extent to which a program is being carried out according to plan. Impact Evaluation looks at changes in factors (i.e., predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors) that influence the likelihood that behavioral and environmental change will occur. Lastly, outcome evaluation looks at whether the intervention has affected health and quality-of-life indicators.

• Predisposing factors, which motivate or provide a reason for behavior; they include knowledge, attitudes, cultural beliefs, and readiness to change.

As Table 11 shows, the individual, interpersonal, and community-level theories discussed in this monograph are most useful when applied to PRECEDEPROCEED’s diagnostic steps. Community

41 PUTTING THEORY AND PRACTICE TOGETHER

In the final diagnostic step of PRECEDEPROCEED, Administrative and Policy Assessment, intervention strategies reflect information gathered in previous steps; the availability of needed resources; and organizational policies and regulations that could affect program implementation. (See Table 10.)

PART 3

During the diagnostic steps of the model, practitioners employ various methods to learn about the community’s perceived and actual needs, as well as the regulatory context in which the intervention will operate. To conduct social assessment, the practitioner may use multiple data collection activities (e.g., key informant interviews, focus groups, participant observation, surveys) to understand the community’s perceived needs. Epidemiological assessment may include secondary data analysis or original data collection to prioritize the community’s health needs and establish program goals and objectives. Behavioral and Environmental Assessment identifies factors, both internal and external to the individual, that affect the health problem. Reviewing the literature and applying theory are two ways to map out these factors.

THEORY AT A GLANCE

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organization relates to Step 1, which may entail working with communities to identify their own needs, strengths, resources, and capacities. Descriptive epidemiology is most pertinent to Step 2, but community-level theories may be relevant if the community helps to choose the health problem that will be addressed, or to set priorities among health problems. Theory is most directly useful when applied to steps 3, 4, and 5, since these steps call upon the practitioner to make strategic decisions. By using theory, the practitioner can make sound choices that are based upon more than just intuition and personal judgment.

Table 10.

Diagnostic Elements of PRECEDE-PROCEED

Planning Step 1.

Theory should guide practitioners’ examination of predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors. For example, the Health Belief Model suggests that certain beliefs might influence women’s decisions about whether or not to get a mammogram, such as perceived chances of developing cancer (perceived susceptibility), or how serious they believe cancer would be (perceived severity). Both beliefs constitute predisposing factors. Other HBM constructs may identify possible perceived benefits of and barriers to screening. Receiving

Social Assessment

2.

Epidemiological Assessment

3.

Behavioral/ Environmental Assessment

Function

Examples of Relevant Theory

Assesses people’s views of their own needs and quality of life

Community organization

Documents which health problems are most important for which groups in a community

Community-level theories (If the community helps to choose the health problem that will be addressed)

Identifies factors that contribute to the health problem of interest

Interpersonal theories - Social Cognitive Theory

Community building

Theories of organizational change Community organization Diffusion of innovations

4.

Educational/ Ecological Assessment

5.

Administrative/ Policy Assessment

Identifies preceding and reinforcing factors that must be in place to initiate and sustain change

All three levels of change theories: - Individual - Interpersonal - Community

Identifies policies, resources, and circumstances in the program’s context that may help or hinder implementation

Community-level theories: - Community organization - Organizational change

reassurance that they do not have cancer (perceived benefit) might be a reinforcing factor. Lack of insurance coverage for screening mammography (perceived barrier) could be a negative enabling factor.

Interventions that evolve from a comprehensive planning process, build on prior research, and use health behavior theories are more likely to be effective. By investigating what factors influence the target population’s behavior, including their social and physical environments, practitioners gain the raw materials they need to meet the needs of that population. Theory helps practitioners to interpret the findings of their research, making the leap from facts on a page to understanding the dynamic interactions between behavior and environmental context. Systematic approaches to tailoring, targeting, implementing, and evaluating programs provide practitioners with a framework for translating this insight into actions that improve health outcomes.

Table 11. summarizes the focus and key concepts of each of the eight theories described in this guide. Refer to this table to identify theories that help explain and address a health problem. For example, several theories could be used to inform the design of a program to reduce tobacco use among adolescents. By scanning the “Focus” column, one can quickly gauge which theories might apply to a particular situation. For example, The Stages of Change model might be very useful, since it centers on individuals’ readiness to change. On the other hand, the Health Belief Model seems less promising, since young people may be less concerned about long-term health problems. (In fact, they may not feel vulnerable to disease at all!) Social Cognitive Theory could be helpful because it emphasizes the interplay between personal, environmental, and behavior factors. Likewise, Community Organization could offer perspective on activating young people

43 PUTTING THEORY AND PRACTICE TOGETHER

Where to Begin: Choosing the Right Theories

PART 3

By exploring the degree to which each of these factors affects women’s behaviors, program planners can decide how to focus program messages for a communications campaign or strategies for an administrative intervention (such as providing low- or nocost screening or changing insurance coverage). The best way to verify and rank explanations offered by theory is to gather information directly from women in the target population. Another, less ideal approach is to learn by reading research literature on women who share characteristics with the target population.

To make appropriate use of theory in a given situation, practitioners must consider both the social or health problem at hand and the context in which the intervention will take place. Once they have identified a problem, they can use a planning system such as social marketing or PRECEDEPROCEED to identify social science theories that contribute to their understanding. These theories can guide them to potential points of intervention. Consulting the research literature helps practitioners to learn about the past successes or failures of intervention strategies that they consider, and reflect on whether those strategies are likely to work for the current situation. Pre-testing and actively discussing proposed strategies with the target audience can also help to determine whether or not they will be well received.