Brief lifestyle advice in cardiac care: an experimental study on message source and framing.

OBJECTIVE: Communicating risk information and offering lifestyle advice are important goals in cardiac rehabilitation. However, the most effective way and the most effective source to communicate this information are not yet known. Therefore, we examined the effect of source (cardiologist, physiotherapist) and framing (gain, loss) of brief lifestyle advice on patients' intention-to-change-lifestyle. METHODS: In an online experimental study, 636 cardiac patients (40% female, 67 (10) yrs.) were randomly assigned to one of four textual vignettes. Effect of source and framing on intention-to-change-lifestyle (assessed using a 5-point Likert scale) was analysed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). RESULTS: Patients expressed positive intention-to-change-lifestyle after receiving advice from the cardiologist (M = 4.1) and physiotherapist (M = 3.9). However, patients showed significantly higher intention-to-change-lifestyle after receiving advice from the cardiologist (0.58 [0.54-0.61]) when compared with the physiotherapist (0.52 [0.48-0.56]), (F[1,609] = 7.06, P = 0.01). Gain-framed and loss-framed advice appeared equally effective. However, communicating risks (loss) was remembered by only 9% of patients, whereas 89% remembered benefits (gain). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows the value of cardiologists and physiotherapists communicating brief lifestyle advice, as cardiac patients expressed positive intention for lifestyle change after receiving advice, irrespective of framing. Lifestyle advice should include benefits due to better recall.

An iterative approach to developing a multifaceted implementation strategy for a complex eHealth intervention within clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: The number of complex eHealth interventions has increased considerably. Despite available implementation theory outlining well-designed strategies, implementing complex interventions within practice proves challenging and often does not lead to sustainable use. To improve sustainability, theory and practice should be addressed during the development of an implementation strategy. By subsequently transparently reporting the executed theory-based steps and their corresponding practice findings, others can learn from these valuable lessons learned. This study outlines the iterative approach by which a multifaceted implementation strategy for a complex eHealth intervention in clinical practice was developed, tested and refined. METHODS: We implemented the BENEFIT program, an advanced eHealth platform with Personal Health Portal facilitating healthy living in cardiac patients. In six iterative phases alternating between theory and practice, the implementation strategy was developed, tested and refined. The initial implementation strategy (phase 1) was drawn up using the Implementation model and RE-AIM. Subsequently, this strategy was further updated in brainstorming sessions and group discussions with twenty key stakeholders from three cardiac care centres and then evaluated in a pilot (phases 2 and 3). RESULTS: The pilot of the program led to the identification of (context-specific) key challenges in practice (phase 4), which were subsequently connected back to broader theory (phase 5) using the Consolidated Framework of Implementation Research (CFIR). In the final phase, practice recommendations tackling the key challenges were formulated (phase 6) based on CFIR theory, the CFIR-ERIC Matching Tool, and stakeholders' input and feedback. These recommendations were then added to the refined strategy. Thus, executing this approach led to the realisation and use of a multifaceted theory-informed practice-based implementation strategy. CONCLUSION: This case study gives an in-depth description of an iterative approach to developing an evidence-based, practice-tailored strategy for implementing a complex eHealth intervention in cardiac care. As such, this study may serve as a blueprint for other researchers aspiring to implement complex eHealth interventions within clinical practice sustainably.

Facilitators of and Barriers to Lifestyle Support and eHealth Solutions: Interview Study Among Health Care Professionals Working in Cardiac Care.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) pose a significant health threat and reduce both people's life expectancy and quality of life. Healthy living is a key component in the effective prevention and treatment of CVD. However, health care professionals (HCPs) experience difficulties in supporting lifestyle changes among their patients. eHealth can provide a solution to these barriers. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to provide insights into the factors HCPs find important in the support of patients with CVD in the uptake of and adherence to a healthy lifestyle and the perceived facilitators of and barriers to using eHealth to provide lifestyle support to patients with CVD. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 Dutch HCPs specializing in lifestyle support in cardiac care. RESULTS: We identified 13 themes, of which the first 12 concerned lifestyle support in general and were related to intervention, patient, or health care. Throughout these themes, the use of eHealth reoccurred as a potential facilitator of or solution to barriers to lifestyle support. Our final theme specifically concerned barriers to the adoption and usability of eHealth. CONCLUSIONS: HCPs do recognize the potential advantages of eHealth while experiencing barriers to using digital tools. Incorporating their needs and values in the development of lifestyle support programs, especially eHealth, could increase their use and lead to a more widespread adoption of eHealth into health care.

Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations.

Mindfulness interventions have been found to lower anxiety. However, the current literature has not adequately considered the role of its individual components and of placebo effects. In an online experiment using a balanced placebo design, we aimed to disentangle effects of decentering, a key component of mindfulness, and expectations, a key component of placebo effects, on anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred twenty-eight adults were randomly assigned to one of four groups: placebo/mindful decentering, placebo/sham decentering, sham/mindful decentering, and sham/sham decentering. Instructions were provided using standardized audio instructions. Current anxiety was assessed pre- and postintervention with the Short State version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Mindful decentering was found to reduce anxiety postintervention, as compared to sham decentering, regardless of induced expectations regarding its effectiveness. Participants in the mindful decentering group also mentioned more decentering-related words than those in the sham decentering group. These findings indicate that a short, standardized, and online mindful decentering intervention can effectively decrease pandemic-related anxiety independently of one's expectations. These findings provide insights into the efficacy of the individual elements of mindfulness, highlighting decentering as an effective active component for anxiety relief. Moreover, these findings suggest that, in a nonclinical sample, individuals can apply mindful decentering with minimal training.

Financial Incentives for Healthy Living for Patients With Cardiac Disease From the Perspective of Health Care Professionals: Interview Study.

BACKGROUND: A promising new approach to support lifestyle changes in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the use of financial incentives. Although financial incentives have proven to be effective, their implementation remains controversial, and ethical objections have been raised. It is unknown whether health care professionals (HCPs) involved in CVD care find it acceptable to provide financial incentives to patients with CVD as support for lifestyle change. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate HCPs' perspectives on using financial incentives to support healthy living for patients with CVD. More specifically, we aim to provide insight into attitudes toward using financial incentives as well as obstacles and facilitators of implementing financial incentives in current CVD care. METHODS: A total of 16 semistructured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with Dutch HCPs involved in supporting patients with CVD with lifestyle changes. The topics discussed were attitudes toward an incentive system, obstacles to using an incentive system, and possible solutions to facilitate the use of an incentive system. RESULTS: HCPs perceived an incentive system for healthy living for patients with CVD as possibly effective and showed generally high acceptance. However, there were concerns related to focusing too much on the extrinsic aspects of lifestyle change, disengagement when rewards are insignificant, paternalization and threatening autonomy, and low digital literacy in the target group. According to HCPs, solutions to mitigate these concerns included emphasizing intrinsic aspects of healthy living while giving extrinsic rewards, integrating social aspects to increase engagement, supporting autonomy by allowing freedom of choice in rewards, and aiming for a target group that can work with the necessary technology. CONCLUSIONS: This study mapped perspectives of Dutch HCPs and showed that attitudes are predominantly positive, provided that contextual factors, design, and target groups are accurately considered. Concerns about digital literacy in the target group are novel findings that warrant further investigation. Follow-up research is needed to validate these insights among patients with CVD.

A multi-stakeholder approach to eHealth development: Promoting sustained healthy living among cardiovascular patients.

BACKGROUND: Healthy living is key in the prevention and rehabilitation of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet, supporting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is exceptionally difficult and people differ in their needs regarding optimal support for healthy lifestyle interventions. OBJECTIVE: The goals of this study were threefold: to uncover stakeholders' needs and preferences, to translate these to core values, and develop eHealth technology based on these core values. Our primary research question is: What type of eHealth application to support healthy living among people with (a high risk of) CVD would provide the greatest benefit for all stakeholders? METHODS: User-centered design principles from the CeHRes roadmap for eHealth development were followed to guide the uncovering of important stakeholder values. Data were synthesized from various qualitative studies (i.e., literature studies, interviews, think-aloud sessions, focus groups) and usability tests (i.e., heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, think aloud study). We also developed an innovative application evaluation tool to perform a competitor analysis on 33 eHealth applications. Finally, to make sure to take into account all end-users needs and preferences in eHealth technology development, we created personas and a customer journey. RESULTS: We uncovered 10 universal values to which eHealth-based initiatives to support healthy living in the context of CVD prevention and rehabilitation should adhere to (e.g., providing social support, stimulating intrinsic motivation, offering continuity of care). These values were translated to 14 desired core attributes and then prototype designs. Interestingly, we found that the primary attribute of good eHealth technology was not a single intervention principle, but rather that the technology should be in the form of a digital platform disseminating various interventions, i.e., a 'one-stop-shop'. CONCLUSION: Various stakeholders in the field of cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation may benefit most from utilizing one personalized eHealth platform that integrates a variety of evidence-based interventions, rather than a new tool. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, this digital platform should aid the matchmaking between patients and specific interventions based on personal characteristics and preferences.

Mindfulness Reduces Reactivity to Food Cues: Underlying Mechanisms and Applications in Daily Life.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Mindfulness-based interventions are becoming increasingly popular as a means to facilitate healthy eating. We suggest that the decentering component of mindfulness, which is the metacognitive insight that all experiences are impermanent, plays an especially important role in such interventions. To facilitate the application of decentering, we address its psychological mechanism to reduce reactivity to food cues, proposing that it makes thoughts and simulations in response to food cues less compelling. We discuss supporting evidence, applications, and challenges for future research. RECENT FINDINGS: Experimental and correlational studies consistently find that the adoption of a decentering perspective reduces subjective cravings, physiological reactivity such as salivation, and unhealthy eating. SUMMARY: We suggest that the decentering perspective can be adopted in any situation to reduce reactivity to food cues. Considering people's high exposure to food temptations in daily life, this makes it a powerful tool to empower people to eat healthily.

Food-Specific Decentering Experiences Are Associated with Reduced Food Cravings in Meditators: A Preliminary Investigation.

This study examined the association of food-specific decentering experiences with food cravings in a sample of meditators. Decentering refers to viewing one's thoughts as transient mental events and thus experiencing them as less subjectively real. This process has been suggested to be a key mechanism underlying the effects of mindfulness and many contemplative practices. Although most earlier studies have focused on the effects of decentering with regard to negative affect, some studies have shown that brief inductions of decentering among non-meditators reduce food cravings as well as unhealthy food choices. Here, we report a preliminary investigation of whether the food-specific decentering experiences that meditators have in daily life are associated with fewer food cravings. A small sample of meditators (N = 33, female = 15) answered a number of questions about decentering experiences with regard to thoughts about food, and they completed the short version of the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait and a measure of meditation experience. Results confirmed that both more meditation experience and more food-specific decentering experiences were associated with fewer food cravings in daily life. In addition, results suggested that when participants had stronger decentering experiences, they experienced fewer food cravings, regardless of their level of meditation experience. Exploratory analyses further revealed that decentering was more strongly associated with reduced cravings in women than in men. These preliminary findings suggest that food-specific decentering experiences indeed help meditators deal with food desires, and thus extend the evidence for decentering effects into the domain of reward. Future research might investigate this in larger samples, validate a food-specific measure of decentering, and consider the broader implications of decentering experiences in daily life.

Consumption Simulations Induce Salivation to Food Cues.

Salivation to food cues is typically explained in terms of mere stimulus-response links. However, food cues seem to especially increase salivation when food is attractive, suggesting a more complex psychological process. Adopting a grounded cognition perspective, we suggest that perceiving a food triggers simulations of consuming it, especially when attractive. These simulations then induce salivation, which effectively prepares the body for eating the food. In two experiments, we systematically examined the role of simulations on salivation to food cues. As stimuli, both experiments used an attractive, a neutral, and a sour food, as well as a non-food control object. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to simulate eating every object they would be exposed to. We then exposed them to each object separately. Salivation was assessed by having participants spit their saliva into a cup after one minute of exposure. In Experiment 2, we instructed half of participants to simulate eating each object, and half to merely look at them, while measuring salivation as in Experiment 1. Afterwards, participants rated their simulations and desire to eat for each object separately. As predicted, foods increased salivation compared to the non-food control object, especially when they were attractive or sour (Exp. 1 and 2). Importantly, attractive and sour foods especially increased salivation when instructed to simulate (Exp. 2). These findings suggest that consumption simulations play an important role in inducing salivary responses to food cues. We discuss directions for future research as well as the role of simulations for other appetitive processes.

The benefits of simply observing: mindful attention modulates the link between motivation and behavior.

Mindful attention, a central component of mindfulness meditation, can be conceived as becoming aware of one's thoughts and experiences and being able to observe them as transient mental events. Here, we present a series of studies demonstrating the effects of applying this metacognitive perspective to one's spontaneous reward responses when encountering attractive stimuli. Taking a grounded cognition perspective, we argue that reward simulations in response to attractive stimuli contribute to appetitive behavior and that motivational states and traits enhance these simulations. Directing mindful attention at these thoughts and seeing them as mere mental events should break this link, such that motivational states and traits no longer affect reward simulations and appetitive behavior. To test this account, we trained participants to observe their thoughts in reaction to appetitive stimuli as mental events, using a brief procedure designed for nonmeditators. Across 3 experiments, we found that adopting the mindful attention perspective reduced the effects of motivational states and traits on appetitive behavior in 2 domains, in both the laboratory and the field. Specifically, after applying mindful attention, participants' sexual motivation no longer made opposite-sex others seem more attractive and thus desirable as partners. Similarly, participants' levels of hunger no longer boosted the attractiveness of unhealthy foods, resulting in healthier eating choices. We discuss these results in the context of mechanisms and applications of mindful attention and explore how mindfulness and mindful attention can be conceptualized in psychological research more generally.