A cross-sectional analysis of factors associated with the teachable moment concept and health behaviors during pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is often associated with a change in health behaviors, leading some to suggest that pregnancy could be a teachable moment for lifestyle change. However, the prevalence and underlying mechanism of this phenomenon is not well understood. The aim of this study is to explore the prevalence of a teachable moment during pregnancy, the psychosocial factors that are associated with experiencing such a moment, and its association with actual health behaviors. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 343 pregnant Dutch women completed an online questionnaire. Participants reported on their intentions to change lifestyle due to pregnancy, their current health behaviors, and several psychosocial factors that were assumed to be linked to perceiving a teachable moment during pregnancy: perceived risk, affective impact, changed self-concept, and social support. Multivariable linear and logistic regression were applied to the data analysis. RESULTS: Results demonstrate that 56% of the women experienced a teachable moment based on intentions to change their health behavior. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that changed self-concept (ß = 0.21; CI = 0.11-0.31), positive affect (positive ß = 0.28; CI = 0.21-0.48), and negative affect (ß = 0.12; CI = 0.00-0.15) were associated with higher intentions to change health behavior. Conversely, more perceived risk was associated with lower intentions to change health behavior (ß=-0.29; CI = 0.31 - 0.13). Multivariate regression analyses showed a positive association between intentions to change health behavior and diet quality (ß = 0.11; CI = 0.82-1.64) and physical activity (OR = 2.88; CI = 1.66-5.00). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that pregnancy may be experienced as a teachable moment, therefore providing an important window of opportunity for healthcare professionals to efficiently improve health behaviors and health in pregnant women and their children. Results suggest that healthcare professionals should link communication about pregnancy-related health behaviors to a pregnant women's change in identity, affective impact (predominantly positive affective impact) and risk perception to stimulate the motivation to change healthy behavior positively.

Exploring timing and delivery of lifestyle advice following an acute cardiac event hospitalization: The cardiac patient's perspective.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the perspective of cardiac patients regarding the timing and manner of delivering lifestyle advice following an acute cardiac event hospitalization. METHODS: Dutch cardiac patients who experienced a cardiac event hospitalization participated in a semi-structured interview (n = 14) or a cross-sectional survey study (n = 119). RESULTS: Our findings indicate that cardiac patients are receptive to lifestyle advice throughout the care trajectory. Advice delivered by a cardiologist had the highest self-reported impact. Furthermore, receiving advice at multiple phases during the care trajectory was associated with a greater intention to change lifestyle (B = 0.37, CI = 0.17 - 0.57). Patients favored clear-cut, feasible, and friendly but confronting advice. Moreover, they stressed the importance of advice being aligned with their identity and beliefs about the causes of their disease. CONCLUSION: The period following an acute cardiac event provides a unique opportunity to offer tailored and patient-centered lifestyle advice. This "teachable window" for lifestyle change, when used wisely, may improve health outcomes for cardiac patients. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Healthcare professionals should initiate lifestyle advice already during hospitalization and continue during follow-up appointments and cardiac rehabilitation. Advice should be feasible and empathy-based, as well as tailored to the patient's needs, values, and perceptions of the causes of their cardiovascular disease.

Making sense of a myocardial infarction in relation to changing lifestyle in the five months following the event: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has shown that experiencing an acute cardiac event, such as a myocardial infarction (MI), can lead to lifestyle changes. This study aimed to explore the potential of a MI as a 'teachable moment' (TM) for positive lifestyle changes and to identify psychosocial sensemaking processes that facilitate or hinder the presence of a TM. METHOD: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 patients who suffered their first MI and were hospitalized in a larger Dutch city. Participants were interviewed twice, respectively one and five months after their hospitalization. They were encouraged to explain how they experienced their MI and how this had affected their lifestyle. We used an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach to the data collection and analysis. FINDINGS: The participants varied in their willingness to adopt a healthy lifestyle due to their MI. Most participants experienced their event as a TM for changing specific health behaviors, for example facilitated by reflecting on self-concept or social roles and by constructing and comprehending a personal narrative of their MI. Some participants struggled to follow through on their intentions to change their behavior, for example because of a negative attitude towards a healthy behavior or because they perceived it as incongruent to their identity. Only three participants maintained most former health behaviors, for example because they failed to acknowledge their MI as severe or because of earlier life events that elicited more blunted cognitive responses. CONCLUSION: Cardiac patients may experience a TM, which is the consequence of interrelated processes of psychosocial sensemaking. As this does not occur at a singular time point, we suggest using the term 'teachable window' rather than 'moment'. Given these findings, there is a window of opportunity to provide continuous psychosocial and lifestyle support during and after hospitalization for acute cardiac events.

The development and validation of scales to measure the presence of a teachable moment following a cardiovascular disease event.

Better conceptually-driven research is necessary to learn more about 1) the characteristics of life events as teachable moments (TMs) and 2) the potential of life events to evoke lifestyle change intention (LCI). This study aimed to develop and validate two scales for the purposes of TM research in the context of cardiovascular disease (CVD): the CardiacTM and CardiacLCI-scales. After the initial development of items based on a theoretical framework and literature search, six experts rated the content validity of both scales as sufficient. The item list was further adjusted after think-aloud sessions with two CVD patients. The resulting scales were presented online in a cross-sectional survey, which yielded 625 responses of Dutch CVD patients (June 2020). To test construct validity, we conducted Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with Varimax rotation on a random split-half of the sample (n = 300) and evaluated the factor structure with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on the holdout sample (n = 325). EFA and CFA on the CardiacTM-scale (α = 0.88) revealed a 28-item six-factor structure explaining 61.0% of the variance, with adequate goodness-of-fit statistics (CFI = 0.87; TLI = 0.85; SRMR = 0.07) and internally reliable factors (Affective impact, Risk CVD, Changed self-concept, CVD group identity, Risk non-communicable disease, Anticipated regret). The CardiacLCI-scale (α = 0.81) revealed an 11-item two-factor structure explaining 51.5% of the variance, with adequate model fit (CFI = 0.92; TLI = 0.90; SRMR = 0.08) and internally reliable factors (Event-related lifestyle change and General healthy lifestyle). The scales may be used to expand knowledge around life events as TMs and to support conversation regarding lifestyle after cardiac and other life events.

The COVID-19 Crisis as a Teachable Moment for Lifestyle Change in Dutch Cardiovascular Disease Patients.

Objective: When lifestyle changes are needed, life events or crises such as COVID-19 may function as "teachable moments". This study aimed to explore whether the pandemic can provoke a teachable moment regarding lifestyle change in cardiovascular disease patients. Method: In this cross-sectional survey study, 830 cardiovascular disease patients reported their intentions to change lifestyle, instigated by the corona crisis, together with risk perception, affective impact, and changed self-concept, based on a "teachable moments" framework. Results: Between 8 and 28% of the sample reported increased intentions to optimize lifestyle behaviors, particularly related to general lifestyle (28%), physical activity (25%), and diet (21%). Multivariate regression analyses revealed that changed self-concept was associated with higher intentions to improve general lifestyle (B = 0.26; CI = 0.19-0.33), physical activity (B = 0.23; CI = 0.16-0.30), and smoking (B = 0.29; CI = 0.01-0.57). In addition, changed self-concept and affective impact were both significantly associated with higher intentions to improve diet (resp. B = 0.29; CI = 0.21-0.36 and B = 0.12; CI = 0.04-0.21) and to limit alcohol consumption (resp. B = 0.22; CI = 0.13-0.30 and B = 0.11; CI = 0.01-0.20). We did not find evidence for an important role of risk perception on behavior change intentions. Conclusion: The COVID-19 crisis evoked a potential teachable moment for lifestyle change in cardiovascular disease patients, driven by a change in a patient's self-concept and to a lesser extent by an affective impact of the COVID-19 crisis. These results suggest an important window of opportunity for healthcare professionals to utilize the pandemic to promote a healthy lifestyle to their patients.

COVID RADAR app: Description and validation of population surveillance of symptoms and behavior in relation to COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring of symptoms and behavior may enable prediction of emerging COVID-19 hotspots. The COVID Radar smartphone app, active in the Netherlands, allows users to self-report symptoms, social distancing behaviors, and COVID-19 status daily. The objective of this study is to describe the validation of the COVID Radar. METHODS: COVID Radar users are asked to complete a daily questionnaire consisting of 20 questions assessing their symptoms, social distancing behavior, and COVID-19 status. We describe the internal and external validation of symptoms, behavior, and both user-reported COVID-19 status and state-reported COVID-19 case numbers. RESULTS: Since April 2nd, 2020, over 6 million observations from over 250,000 users have been collected using the COVID Radar app. Almost 2,000 users reported having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Amongst users testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the proportion of observations reporting symptoms was higher than that of the cohort as a whole in the week prior to a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Likewise, users who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 showed above average risk social-distancing behavior. Per-capita user-reported SARS-CoV-2 positive tests closely matched government-reported per-capita case counts in provinces with high user engagement. DISCUSSION: The COVID Radar app allows voluntarily self-reporting of COVID-19 related symptoms and social distancing behaviors. Symptoms and risk behavior increase prior to a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, and user-reported case counts match closely with nationally-reported case counts in regions with high user engagement. These results suggest the COVID Radar may be a valid instrument for future surveillance and potential predictive analytics to identify emerging hotspots.

[Teachable moments: the right moment to make patients change their lifestyle]. / 'Teachable moments'.

Healthcare professionals can play a significant role in the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases. Yet there is still relatively little attention to lifestyle counseling, partly because of limited available time and doubts about its effectiveness. During so-called 'teachable moments', patients may be more receptive towards lifestyle advices and more motivated to change their lifestyle. For example during pregnancy, disease diagnoses, abnormal test results or even the corona crisis, patients may suddenly face lifestyle change differently. In this paper, we provide guidelines to healthcare professionals regarding utilization of these situations. General practitioners or specialists can create a potential teachable moment by discussing risk perception, emotions and self-image with the patient. Subsequently, paramedics can encourage patients to change health behaviors by increasing their motivation, self-efficacy and lifestyle-related skills. Recognizing and making optimal use of potential teachable moments can contribute to desired behavior change of patients with relatively little time investment.