Overview
The OBSSR and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Adherence Research Network hosted a series of workshops titled “An Action Agenda: Promoting the Science and Practice of Health Behavior Maintenance.” The goal of these workshops was to develop a deeper understanding of health behavior maintenance to better promote and sustain positive health outcomes. These workshops built on previous efforts by the OBSSR and the NIH Health Maintenance Consortium to identify the processes, components, and contextual factors that influence health behavior maintenance.
Workshop 1: Advancing Consensus on the Conceptualization of Behavior Maintenance focused on advancing the conceptualization of behavior maintenance.
While there are many definitions of behavior maintenance, behavior maintenance broadly refers to routinely performing a health behavior over time and, where needed, across contexts. An improved conceptualization of behavior maintenance is important for informing future health behavior research, health promotion programs, behavioral and pharmacological interventions, and clinical practice.
This virtual workshop was held over two days with a group of invited researchers and NIH staff who hold expertise in health behavior research and collectively work across different chronic illness and health promotion areas, including cardiovascular health, diabetes, physical activity, cancer survivorship, ophthalmology, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and mental health.
The workshop’s goals were outlined in introductory presentations. Participants subsequently participated in several small- and large-group discussions to identify themes and work toward consensus on a conceptual model of health behavior maintenance, by defining key terms and delineating possible multilevel mechanisms of action.
