Health Behavior Theory for Public Health: Principles, Foundations, and Applications

While a solid understanding of human behavior theory is an essential tool for designing and implementing successful health promotion programs, changing health behavior requires multiple skills beyond the ability to simply apply theory. Divided into three sections, the book takes a unique ecological approach to learning about health behavior theory and its application. The reader will first gain a broad understanding of health, public health, health behavior and health promotion planning. This is followed by a straightforward and expansive look at the most commonly applied theories and approaches to public health research and programs. Students will come away with a clear understanding of how theory “fits” into the larger scope of public health research and practice. Finally, readers will learn about the essential tasks of measurement, evaluation, and translation through an examination a diverse set of application “tools”.