Colorado Consortium for Health Behavior Change

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Colorado Consortium for Health Behavior Change in Cardiopulmonary Illness: Enhancing Theory and Models of Behavioral Mechanisms. Abstract: This proposal requests support to bring together for 8 quarterly meetings over 2 years a very diverse consortium of highly experienced clinical researchers active in the area of cardiopulmonary illness with health behavior change as a key focus. The broad and long-term goal of this conference proposal is to allow consortium members of appraise and enhance existing theoretical models of health behavior change and thereby foster development of improved prevention and intervention strategies for use in cardiopulmonary illness. The specific aims of this conference proposal are: 1) to identify and appraise evidence about behavior change mechanisms specified by existing models of health behavior change across three key levels, individual, relational-community, and economic-systemic, of relevance to cardiopulmonary illness; 2) to refine and integrate existing models to better inform health behavior change in research addressing cardiopulmonary illness; and 3) to develop a strategic plan for testing the use of multidisciplinary models for health behavior change as well as to offer career-development opportunities and resources for the junior investigators attending consortium meetings. Every effort will be made to encourage participation of women and to include minorities and persons with disabilities in Consortium meetings. The significance of this proposal is that health behaviors, such as physical inactivity, overeating and smoking, are major factors in the development and course of cardiopulmonary illness that have proven relatively difficult to change. Although theories and models of how to change health behaviors receive some degree of attention within the research community, such attention typically does not examine theory across multiple levels as we propose to do, and the prevention and intervention efforts arising from most prior use of theory typically has been only partially effective, costly, and not easily translated into "real world" settings. The Consortium activities to be supported by this proposal have been carefully planned to lead to the creation of new collaborative research teams which through greater focus upon and strategic use of multilevel theoretical models will develop more robust prevention and intervention efforts with greater reach, effectiveness, and adoptability in the area of cardiopulmonary illness.