NREPP Recognizes Pro-Change Stress Management Program

The National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), a service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently identified Pro-Change’s Transtheoretical Model (TTM) based Stress Management Program as one of the interventions in their database that has been evaluated in Comparative Effective Research (CER). By identifying interventions that have CER support, users of NREPP will be able to more easily find programs that meet their needs.

“Pro-Change is thrilled that NREPP is adding the CER search feature to their web site. It will allow researchers, clinicians, and other decision makers to identify interventions that have been evaluated and compared in real world settings,” said Dr. Kerry Evers, Senior Vice-President of Research and Product Development. Dr. Evers was the Principal Investigator and developer of Pro-Change’s Stress Management Program.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CER is the conduct and synthesis of research comparing the benefits and harms of different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions in “real world” settings. The purpose of this research is to improve health outcomes by developing and disseminating evidence-based information to patients, clinicians, and other decision makers, responding to their expressed needs about which interventions are most effective for which patients under specific circumstances.

The goals of CER are to:

• Assess a comprehensive array of health-related outcomes for diverse patient populations and subgroups
• Include medications, procedures, medical and assistive devices and technologies, diagnostic testing, behavioral change, and delivery system strategies
• Use a variety of data sources and methods to assess comparative effectiveness and actively disseminate the results.

NREPP rates the quality of the research supporting intervention outcomes and the quality and availability of training and implementation materials on a scale of 0.0 – 4.0. Pro-Change’s Stress Management Program was added to the database in February 2008. The program received a 3.8 overall rating for readiness for dissemination.

Pro-Change Teams up with Arizona State University’s New Doctor of Behavioral Health Program

Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce a contract with Arizona State University’s (ASU) Doctor of Behavioral Health Program to disseminate Pro-Change resources to students. As part of their course work, doctoral students will receive training in the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM) to provide them with the basic concepts and strategies needed to effectively use the TTM when working with patients.

Student practitioners will then utilize Pro-Change’s LifeStyle Management Program Suite with their patients. This suite includes a set of Pro-Changes’ LifeStyle Management Programs that won the 2009 URAC Gold Award for Best Practices in Health Management. The programs work with individuals to help them identify their readiness to change in relation to seven behaviors closely tied to preventing and managing chronic disease. The LifeStyle Management programs offer individuals access to a health risk intervention, computerized tailored interventions, and interactive stage-matched e-workbooks, all based on the TTM. Student practitioners will “prescribe” our suite of programs to their patients then use patients’ feedback reports to guide them through the stages of change.

ASU’s Doctor of Behavioral Health (DBH) program is the culmination of Dr. Nicholas Cummings’ vision of creating a doctoral training program tailored to the emerging need for innovative behavioral clinicians to practice in primary care and medical settings. The DBH curriculum and practicum are designed to offer a unique blend of evidence-based behavioral interventions, medical literacy, health systems, and entrepreneurship skills that will meet the needs of the health-care, reform-driven marketplace. The explicit goal of the DBH program is to graduate clinicians who can deliver and document interventions that produce clinical and functional improvement, patient and provider satisfaction, and cost savings by decreasing overuse of medical resources and the cost of lost productivity to employers. Dr. Ronald O’Donnell, Director, stated that he believes that “an upgrade to a doctorate for master’s-level clinicians based on this unique foundation of skills will result in graduates being highly valued in a marketplace that is searching for cost-effective care.”

The DBH program will be integrated with existing cutting-edge degree programs such as Nursing and Healthcare Innovation, the Medical School and the Doctorate in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Wellness. For more information about this unique program, please see www.dbh.asu.edu.

Pro-Change’s President and CEO, Janice Prochaska, stated that “Pro-Change is honored to be an integral part of this first program in the country for Doctoral of Behavioral Health training.”

Dr. Kerry Evers to Attend the “Forum on the Future Impact of Neuroscience and Behavior Change”

Dr. Kerry Evers of Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc. is one of 20 experts who have been invited by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Monitor Institute to the “Forum on the Future Impact of Neuroscience and Behavior Change” to take place on November 11-12 at RWJF’s Princeton headquarters. RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio and the Monitor Institute are convening a small group of researchers, academics, physicians, and industry leaders in the fields of neurotechnology, neurodevelopment, and behavior change. The forum is designed to shine a light on key areas of innovation, to highlight new opportunities for key players, and to forge a greater sense of connectivity among leading thinkers in these three fields.

Over the course of two days, participants will engage in a series of highly iterative, forward-looking discussions on neurotechnology, neurodevelopment, and behavior change. This will culminate in a wrap-up session that will integrate the thinking across all three areas and highlight connections and implications for the future of health and health care. The meetings will help identify key areas of exploration and development, inspire a greater sense of connectivity, and potentially create a new way of engaging with key stakeholders to foster and leverage ideas and innovation.

“I am honored to be included in this distinguished group of individuals and organizations and excited to be involved in what is sure to be invigorating discussions,” stated Dr. Evers.

Financial Expert and Author Jean Chatzky Launches Debt Diet Online in Collaboration With Pro-Change

Financial expert and author, Jean Chatzky yesterday launched a new online tool – Debt Diet Online at www.JeanChatzky.com/debtdiet. The tool, developed in collaboration with Pro-Change, uses behavior change science to deliver guidance based on how ready an individual is to take on debt challenges. Debt Diet Online is a tailored program with strategies to help people get out of debt and start building wealth with just $10 per day.

“We’ve all seen the tremendous difficulties Americans are facing with debt and often it’s so overwhelming that you wonder how to get started,” says financial expert and author, Jean Chatzky. “Debt Diet Online provides the right information and the motivation to make the right choices every day and take back control of your finances.”

A culture of easy credit combined with the current recession and high unemployment has landed many Americans in a mountain of debt. The first step is often the hardest, which is why Chatzky collaborated with preeminent behavior change experts at Pro-Change to get users ready to implement Chatzky’s proven strategies and to ensure they do so successfully. Based on the user’s stage of readiness, the tool is customized with step-by-step coaching, driven by time-tested, effective behavior change principles. This is the first product of its kind that combines proven financial strategies with behavior change principles.

“We’ve spent over 30 years studying how people can make lasting change in their lives—from stopping smoking to losing weight to reducing stress,” says Founder James Prochaska, Ph.D. of Pro-Change. “Reducing debt is a major challenge for Americans today and Debt Diet Online is a great opportunity to apply our knowledge with Jean Chatzky’s insights to help people make real, positive change in their lives.”

Debt Diet Online uses an algorithm to determine which of six stages of readiness applies to the user:

• Not Yet Ready: Not intending to start eliminating debt
• Getting Ready: Looking to start paying down debt in the next six months
• Ready: Planning to start reducing debt in the coming month
• Taking Action: Already started to eliminate debt and looking to stay on track
• Staying with It: Well on track with reducing debt and want to know how to handle the unexpected
• You Have No Debt: Next Step is to Start Building Savings: Debt is gone and want to learn how to build savings

Debt Diet Online then delivers information based on the user’s stage of readiness. For $30, users can access the online tool where they are guided through—with the end goal of changing behavior, eliminating debt, and building sustainable wealth.

Learn more at www.JeanChatzky.com or www.JeanChatzky.com/debtdiet.

Pro-Change Announces Effectiveness of Health in Motion, A Multi-Media Obesity Prevention Program for Adolescents

Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc. recently completed a five year program of research funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Leanne Mauriello, to develop and test a multi-media obesity prevention program for adolescents. Health in Motion is a population-based program relevant for all teens that focuses on helping them adopt or maintain physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and limiting television time according to national guidelines. Each of these behaviors is important for leading a healthy lifestyle and preventing overweight and obesity.

Health in Motion is a self-directed, computer-based program that can be easily delivered to adolescents across multiple settings. Once the teen logs on, the intervention administers on-screen assessments and offers immediate, tailored and stage-matched feedback based on the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change. Each intervention session is designed to be delivered within 30 minutes. A fully tailored intervention is offered for physical activity and optimally tailored sections are offered for fruit and vegetable consumption and TV viewing. Multimedia components, including audio, videos, animations, and interactive feedback screens, engage the users and help to relay important behavioral change strategies. A demonstration version of Health in Motion can be viewed at www.prochange.com/obesitydemo.

As part of a 14-month clinical effectiveness trial Health in Motion was delivered to 1800 students from 8 high schools across the country. The majority of students were White (71.5%), female (50.8%), of normal weight according to their body mass index (74.7%), and on average 16 years old. The treatment group received three intervention sessions and two follow-up assessments, while the control group received four assessment-only sessions. Results of the trial demonstrate the effectiveness of the program to initiate behavior change for all three behaviors and to treat multiple risks simultaneously.

At the end of the intervention, the treatment group increased their physical activity of at least 60 minutes by 1 additional day (while the control group increased that much activity by 1/3 of a day), increased their fruit and vegetable consumption by 1.5 servings per day (while the control group increased by ½ of a serving), and reduced their daily television viewing by 1 hour (while the control group reduced by ½ an hour). At the 12 month follow-up time point, the treatment group continued to outperform the control group on all three of these measures.

The intervention also was successful at moving treatment group participants from a pre-action stage (in which participants were not doing the target behavior) to the action or maintenance stages (in which participants had begun to do the target behavior), with 28.5% of the treatment group moving to action or maintenance for physical activity, 35.5% moving to action or maintenance for fruit and vegetable consumption, and 43% moving to action or maintenance for TV viewing. These effects were relatively stable for the treatment group out to the 12 month follow-up time point.

A noteworthy success of Health in Motion is its ability to treat multiple risks simultaneously. Among treatment group participants those students who progressed to action or maintenance for one behavior were 4.2 to 2.1 times more likely to make the same progress on another behavior. This finding was not found among control group participants. Findings also indicate the ability of the intervention to reduce the number of behavioral risks among treatment group participants. Among students with at least one behavioral risk at baseline, the treatment group reported fewer risks than the control group at the 2, 6, and 12 month time points. In addition, among those with zero behavioral risks at baseline, the control group reported significantly more risks at the 2, 6, and 12 month time points than the treatment group. These findings reflect the crux of treating multiple risks simultaneously. An intervention that can help students reduce multiple risks, help students adopt more than one healthy behavior, and prevent students from acquiring risks stretches the impact seen to date with single behavior interventions. Overall, these findings exemplify the ability of Health in Motion to promote the adoption of multiple health behaviors while also reducing relapse and risk acquisition.

The effectiveness of Health in Motion to help students who previously where not doing healthy lifestyle behaviors at recommended levels adopt the target behaviors to national guidelines, and help many of them continue doing the behaviors out to 12 months post intervention culminates this five year program of research and program development. Adoption and maintenance of these lifestyle behaviors particularly when promoted through a feasible and easily adoptable intervention strategy can lend greatly towards helping teens adopt healthy behaviors that may prevent the onset of adult obesity and the consequential health impacts that obesity bears to individuals, and society as a whole.

Over 10 presentations on this research have been made at several national conferences and three publications have resulted to date. Discussions with potential commercialization partners have ensued and elicited much enthusiasm for marketing Health in Motion to schools, youth organizations, health care providers, and to health promotion, disease management, and insurance benefit companies. Health in Motion is now available to license. Contact Janice M. Prochaska, President and CEO, at jmprochaska@prochange.com, for more information.

American Journal of Health Promotion Highlights Pro-Change’s Work

The July/August issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion‘s section on the Art of Health Promotion highlights Pro-Change’s new Proactive Health Consumer (PHC) program. The article entitled “Proactive Health Consumerism: An Important New Tool for Worksite Health Promotion” focuses on the fundamentals of the PHC approach, applies lessons learned to develop effective PHC, suggests how PHC programs could be integrated with employers or health plan offerings, and gives strategies for assuring a successful PHC program.

The article can be found in the July/August 2009 issue, Volume 23, pages 1-8 and is authored by Sara S. Johnson, Carol O. Cummins, Kerry E. Evers, Janice M. Prochaska, and James O. Prochaska.

To see a demo of the PHC program, please visit www.prochange.com/phcdemo.

Dr. Kerry Evers Selected to Attend National Security Forum

Dr. Kerry Evers, Senior Vice President of Research and Product Development at Pro-Change, was one of 130 civilian leaders in business, education, and government from across the country to receive a personal invitation from the Secretary of the Air Force to attend the 56th Annual National Security Forum (NSF) at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama earlier this year. The purpose of NSF is to expose influential citizens to senior U.S. and international officers and civilian equivalents in order to engage each other’s ideas and perspectives on Air Force, national, and international security issues.

This year’s forum included discussions of cybersecurity, the robotics revolution and conflict in the 21st century, diplomacy and security challenges in the broader Middle East, unwrapping the mysteries of Iran, and North Korea’s nuclear diplomacy. Speakers included Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq; Dr. Peter Singer, Director, 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institute; and The Honorable Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force.

Dr. Evers commented, “The week was a remarkable opportunity to engage with senior military leaders for in-depth discussions of current and future issues facing the Air Force and the other branches of the military. It was an incredible follow-up to my experience in the European Command last fall.” In 2008, Kerry was selected by the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense as one of 50 leaders from across the country to participate in the 76th Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC). This prestigious conference provided a forum of free exchange among influential citizens, Department of Defense officials, and military leadership while touring military installations throughout Europe.

Pro-Change Releases New Integrated Program to Help Employees Be More Proactive About Their Health and Health Care

Pro-Change is pleased to announce our new Proactive Health Consumer Program: Making Health Happen (PHC). Rising costs are driving health plans and employers to look for ways to encourage members/employees to become proactive health consumers who take responsibility for their health, health care, and cost of care—for themselves and on behalf of their families.

The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) based PHC program is designed to guide those not ready, getting ready, and ready to take charge of their health and health care. A computerized-tailored intervention segues into a dynamic web portal containing interactive activities, health decision-making guidance, lifestyle behavior change interventions, and a health information database all designed to promote and reinforce skills and resources needed for health care consumerism.

The four main components of the program address:

1. Sharing in decision making with health care providers;
2. Making informed decisions regarding health insurance coverage, health care providers, tests, treatments, and end-of-life care;
3. Using health services wisely and in a financially responsible way; and
4. Engaging in ongoing health and wellness via award winning programs for healthy lifestyle management.

This innovative program will lead the field of behavior change into a new era. Originally, the field focused on disease management, then disease prevention. Over the years the focus evolved to health promotion and then wellness. Today, the focus is shifting to well-being. PHC is the first program that integrates health and financial well-being using the integrative construct of proactive health consumerism.

After viewing our program demo, one person remarked, “This is the first program I’ve seen that integrates health care and healthy lifestyles.” Another viewer said, “This is a truly holistic approach.” Now see it for yourself.

To view our demo, go to: www.prochange.com/phcdemo.

Three Pro-Change Staff Members to Present Research at SBM

Three members of Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc. will present at two different Paper Sessions at the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) Annual Conference in Montreal, Canada on April 22-25, 2009.

The three presentations are based on a recently completed five year program of research funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The research was led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Leanne Mauriello to develop and test a multi-media obesity prevention program for adolescents. Health in Motion is a population-based program relevant for all teens that focuses on helping them adopt or maintain physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and limiting television time according to national guidelines. Each of these behaviors is important for leading a healthy lifestyle and preventing overweight and obesity.

At the “It’s All Fun and Games: Multimedia Approaches to LifeStyle Change” Paper Session, Dr. Mauriello will present the 12-month outcomes from the effectiveness trial of Health in Motion. Students (N=1800) from eight high schools participated in the 14- month trial. The program was effective at moving students in the treatment group to action or maintenance for all three behaviors. In addition, the treatment group reported exercising at least 60 minutes on more days and eating more fruits and vegetables at all time points then the control group. Significant group differences were not found for hours of TV per day.

At the “Prevention is Key: Weight Gain Prevention Research” Paper Session, Patricia Castle, M.A., will present on “Multiple Behavior Risk Reduction and Risk Acquisition Results from Adolescent Obesity Prevention Program.” At follow-up, those students in the treatment group reported significantly fewer health risks compared to the control group. Also, among those students with zero health risks at the start of the program, the treatment group reported less acquisition of risks compared to the control group at the end of treatment. These findings highlight the effectiveness and importance of treating multiple risks simultaneously. This paper won the Annual Award of the Multiple Health Behavior Change Special Interest Group of SBM.

Also at this Paper Session, Karen Sherman, B.A., will present on the “Co-variation of Multiple Behavior Change: Synergistic Effects of an Obesity Prevention Program.” Findings demonstrate that progress (movement to Action or Maintenance) on one behavior led to progress on another behavior among treatment but not control group participants. The treatment group exhibited significant co-variation among behaviors at each time point. These results indicate the synergistic effects possible when impacting multiple behaviors.

Janice M. Prochaska, President & CEO of Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc. stated, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to share the successful results of this effectiveness trial with members of SBM.”

For citations and abstracts of the papers, please see our Youth Obesity Prevention page.

Pro-Change’s New Proactive Health Consumer Program featured by the Center for Information Therapy

The Center for Information Therapy (IxCenter) is featuring for the month of April, Pro-Change’s new Proactive Health Consumer Program: Making Health Happen (PHC) through its website’s Monthly Member Spotlight.

The PHC program also will be demonstrated as part of “The Opening Great Debate: Ix and Health 2.0 – Synergies or Tensions?” at the Health 2.0 Meets Ix Conference in Boston on April 22, 2009. It is fitting that the Center for Information Therapy, an early project collaborator, is the first to present the program to the public. The IxCenter’s President, Joshua Seidman, commented, “The PHC tool represents a great step forward in integrating the different types of information that consumers need to navigate an increasingly complex health care delivery system.”

The Proactive Health Consumer Program promotes active participation in managing health and health care costs for one’s self and family using validated assessments and empirically-based guidance. PHC is the first program that integrates health and financial well-being using the integrative construct of proactive health consumerism. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) based PHC program is designed to guide those not ready, getting ready, and ready to take charge of their health and health care. An individualized, computerized-tailored intervention segues into a dynamic web portal containing interactive activities, health decision making guidance, lifestyle behavior change interventions, and the Healthwise^® Knowledgebase, all designed to promote and reinforce skills and resources needed for health care consumerism.

The four main components of the program address:

1. Sharing in decision making with health care providers;
2. Making informed decisions regarding health plans, providers, tests, treatments, and end-of-life care;
3. Using health services wisely and in a financially responsible way; and
4. Engaging in ongoing health and wellness activities.

For more information about the Proactive Health Consumer program, see our PHC page.

URAC Awards Pro-Change Gold Award for Best Practices in Health Management

Pro-Change Behavior Systems was presented the Gold Award for Health Management by leading health care accreditation organization, URAC. The honor was announced at the 2009 Best Practices in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection Awards Gala on April 1-2 in Orlando, Florida. The awards are designed to recognize innovative leadership and successful programs in consumer-focused health care management.

Pro-Change was honored for its LifeStyle Management Program Suite, a set of programs that works with individuals to help them identify their readiness to change in relation to seven behaviors closely tied to preventing and managing chronic disease. The LifeStyle Management programs offer individuals access to a health risk intervention, a computerized tailored intervention, and an interactive stage-matched workbook, all based on the Transtheoretical Model.

Seventy submissions were evaluated by a 27-member panel of prestigious, independent judges including experts in program evaluation, care coordination, health information technology, employer and purchaser decision making and patient safety. Honors were awarded in six categories: Health Plans and Health Networks, Health Management, Health Information/Decision Support, Pharmacy Quality Management, Consumer Decision-Making, and Consumer Health Improvement.

“Our Best Practices awards program is a unique celebration of the best the health care industry has to offer. These companies have made a difference in the lives of consumers by implementing leading-edge programs with results that matter,” said Alan P. Spielman, president and CEO of URAC. “At a time when health care reform is in the spotlight, achievements from companies like Pro-Change are even more important.”

“We are honored to be recognized by URAC,” stated Janice M. Prochaska, President & CEO of Pro-Change. “We appreciate the importance of URAC’s goal to raise the quality and impact of the evidence needed to support health management programs.”

Pro-Change Announces Collaboration to Measure Continuing Medical Education (CME) Outcomes

Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc. today announced they will work with Quintiles Medical Education, Consensus Medical Communications, and Medical Education Resources in 2009 to comprehensively measure outcomes for continuing medical education initiatives for the effective treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV).

These initiatives will be delivered live, on-line, and via print. Consistent with the most recent Alliance for Continuing Medical Education competencies regarding partnering with external partners, Pro-Change will develop a common set of measures related to performance improvement in the treatment of HCV. These measures, based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of Behavior Change, will be used for all of the educational activities developed by each partner in this unique collaboration.

The principles of the TTM will also be used to guide the inclusion of behavior change messaging within each CME activity.

The goal is to move CME to performance improvement, going beyond the traditional goal of improving knowledge. Including messages that match the readiness of the entire target audience is expected to increase effectiveness of CME activities for treatment of HCV. The overall educational initiatives are supported by an independent educational grant from Roche Pharmaceuticals.

David Schlumper of Quintiles stated that he “is confident that the collaboration with Pro-Change will bring about improvements in measuring and accomplishing performance improvements and will ultimately improve patient care.”

Becky Carney of Consensus Medical Communications stated that she “values the opportunity to partner with other CME stakeholders to take full advantage of the skills and resources of each group. This allows us to best support education that drives improvements in clinician behaviors which promote optimized patient outcomes.”

Janice M. Prochaska, Ph.D. Elected to the NRPA Board of Trustees

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) has elected Janice M. Prochaska to the national association. The announcement was made during NRPA’s 43rd Annual Congress & Exposition in Baltimore, Maryland.

“Janice is an asset to NRPA,” said Lois G. Finkelman, NRPA Chair of the Board of Trustees. “She has supported the park and recreation movement and NRPA’s mission on many levels throughout her career. Her expertise and leadership skills will continue to help NRPA achieve its organizational goals and Strategic Plan. Janice has previously served on the Board of Trustees for four years where she has been a strong advocate to integrate health into the mission of NRPA.” NRPA will flourish under her leadership.

Dr. Prochaska is the President and CEO of Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc. She serves on the South Kingstown Parks and Recreation Commission, Star Island Corporation, and numerous other local organizations. In 2007 Dr. Prochaska accepted on behalf of Pro-Change the National Tibbetts Award for excellence in the Small Business Innovation Research Program.

The National Recreation and Park Association is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing park, recreation and conservation efforts that enhance quality of life for all people. Through its network of some 21,000 recreation and park professionals and citizens, NRPA encourages the promotion of healthy lifestyles, recreation initiatives, and conservation of natural and cultural resources.

Headquartered in Ashburn, Va., NRPA works closely with local, state, and national recreation and park agencies, citizen groups and corporations to carry out its objectives. Priorities include advocating favorable legislation and public policy; continuing education for park and recreation professionals and citizens; providing professional certification, university accreditation, research and technical assistance; and increasing public awareness of the importance of parks and recreation. For more information, visit www.nrpa.org.