The Pro-Change strategies that help people adopt healthier lifestyles can also help with personal finance, organization change and other behaviors.
Consumer Credit Debt
We have a validated measure1 and content for targeted messages for helping participants to get out of consumer credit debt.
Counseling
We have a printed manual written for practitioners titled Counselors Guide to Using the Transtheoretical Model with Clients. See our manual orders page for pricing and sample pages.
Organizational Change
Initiatives for organizational changes fail about 75% of the time. The number one reason is employee resistance to change, produced by imposing action on people who are not prepared to act. We offer programs to increase readiness and lower employee stress as organizations ask their employees to adopt new policies, execute continuous quality improvement strategies, work in teams and participate in ongoing learning.
Our manual orders page has details and sample pages from our work2 in this area.
Vocational Rehabilitation
Entering or re-entering the job market can be a challenge for those with disabilities. We have a validated measure3 and a stage-based manual to help vocational rehabilitation counselors use the Transtheoretical Model with clients. See our manual orders page for details.
Results Published
1.Xiao, J.J., Newman, B., Prochaska, J.M., Leon, R., & Bassett, R. (2004). Voices of debt troubled consumers: A Theory-based qualitative inquiry. Journal of Personal Finance, 3, 2, 56-74. abstract
Abstract: The Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) provided the framework for the study of behavioral changes of consumers with troubling debt. This paper reports findings from interviews with five experts who are professionals in personal financial services and education and 15 consumers who are having troubling consumer debts. The findings demonstrate how key concepts of TTM are linked to authentic concerns and experiences described by consumers who have tried to reduce their credit card debts, which are informative for professionals, educators, and researchers in personal finances.
2.Levesque, D.A., Prochaska, J.M., Prochaska, J.O., Dewart, S.R., Hamby, L.S., & Weeks, W.B. (2001). Organizational stages and processes of change for continuous quality improvement in healthcare. Consulting Psychology Journal, 53, 139-153. abstract
Abstract: This article provides an overview of the transtheoretical model of change (TTM, or stage model) and how it can guide the development of stage-matched interventions to increase physicans’ readiness for continuous quality improvement (CQI) in health care. In addition, this article describes the development and initial validation of two TTM measures—stages and processes of change—designed to assess the extent to which hospitals are engaging in activities that can facilitate individual providers’ movement through the stages of change for CQI. A majority (57%) of informants reported that their organizations were in the maintenance stages for CQI. Organizational-level processes of change differed significantly across the stages: Hospitals in the precontemplation stage tended to use the processes least, and hospitals in the maintenance stages tended to use them most.
3.Mannock, T.J., Levesque, D.A., & Prochaska, J.M. (2002). Assessing readiness of clients with disabilities to engage in job seeking behaviors. Journal of Rehabilitation, 68, 16-28. abstract
Abstract: The Transtheoretical Model (TTM, also known as the “stage model”) offers an empirically based approach to conceptualizing and assessing readiness to return to work following a disabling injury. The development and validation of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment-Vocational Counseling (URICA-VC), a three-dimensional stage measure, is described. At a state rehabilitation center, 155 clients completed a 48-item assessment at intake. Cluster analysis found three stage clusters: Reluctant, Reflective, and Participative. Findings provide preliminary evidence of the validity of the URICA-VC. For example, individuals in the Participative cluster were three times as likely as individuals in the earlier clusters to return to work. These findings support the applicability of the TTM to vocational counseling and provide an impetus for future efforts to develop stage-matched interventions that can guide rehabilitation professionals in their work.
Silver, B., Prochaska, J. M., Mederer, H., Harlow, L., & Sherman, K. (2007). Advancing Women Scientists: Exploring a theoretically-grounded climate change workshop model. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 13, 207-230. abstract
Abstract: Universities in the United States have an increasing need to recruit the best and the brightest faculty to remain globally competitive, but the majority of schools share a profile that includes a low percentage of women in most of the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. Changes in university culture are needed to enable departmental diversity growth, to expand offerings and perspectives, and to strengthen the view that STEM is an attractive choice for female students and prospective faculty. This paper describes the theoretical models used to develop a prototype workshop series to be implemented in departments to help faculty progress in their readiness to advance women scientists, defined as collaborating, mentoring, sharing resources, and generating support through community. The three theoretical underpinnings are the gender-as-structure theory of organizational change, Appreciative Inquiry, and the Transtheoretical Model. These workshops are one aspect of the climate change efforts implemented by the ADVANCE program of the University of Rhode Island.
Prochaska, J.M., Mauriello, L.M., Sherman, K.J., Harlow, L., Silver, B., and Trubatch, J. (2006). Assessing readiness for advancing women scientists using the transtheoretical model. Sex Roles: A Research Journal, 54, 869-880. abstract
Abstract: The under-representation of women in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines is of wide interest. In this article we report on the development of new Transtheoretical Model-based measures to assess readiness to take action to advance women scientists. Reliable measures of Stage of Change, Decisional balance, and Self-efficacy were developed with a sample of science faculty from a northeastern university. Theoretical relationships among the constructs were validated and offer support for extending the Transtheoretical Model to this area. These measures are being used as part of a campus-wide initiative to examine the advancement of women scientists before and after a series of interventions.
Prochaska, J.M., Prochaska, J.O. & Levesque, D.A. (2001). A transtheoretical approach to changing organizations. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 28, 247-261. abstract
Abstract: Several authors have reflected on the underdeveloped state of organizational change theory, research, and practice. This field needs an integrative framework that can synthesize major approaches to change. The Transtheoretical Model has the potential to do for organizational change what it has done for individual behavior change. Conceptually the stages-of-change dimension can be used to integrate principles and processes of change from divergent models of change. Practically, the stages-of-change dimension can be applied by leaders to reduce resistance, increase participation, reduce dropout, and increase change progress among employees.
Prochaska, J.M., Levesque, D.A., Prochaska, J.O. Skills for mastering change in the workplace (2005). Change Management, Edited by Kumar Prashant. ICFAI Books: Hyderabad, India.
Prochaska, J.M. (2005). The transtheoretical model. Taking Stock: A Survey on the Practice and Future of Change Management. Edited by Holger Nauheimer, The Change Management Toolbook: Berlin, Germany.
Prochaska, J.M., Levesque, D.A., Prochaska, J.O., Dewart, S.R., & Wing, G.R., (2001). Mastering change: A core competency for employees. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 1, 7-15. abstract
Abstract:
Organizations are changing at an unprecedented rate and requiring individuals to change with them. Change can be exciting and create opportunities for learning and personal growth. It can also arouse anger, frustration, anxiety, and a sense of helplessness especially in those who are not ready for change. Staff clinicians who learn to master the change process through gaining skills in proactive learning, collaborative teamwork, and stress management can increase their sense of well-being and security, and effectiveness in an ever changing workplace. They can also help their agencies cope more productively with changes, whatever they may be. To master change behavior involves traveling through a series of five stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. To master change employees need to know where they are currently in the stages of change for proactive learning, teamwork, and stress management, where they need to go next, and the strategies for how best to get there.
Prochaska, J.M. (2000). A transtheoretical model for assessing organizational change: A study of family service agencies’ movement to time limited therapy. Families in Society, 80, (1), 76-84. abstract
Abstract:
This research examined how well a leading model of intentional change, the Transtheoretical Model, captures the dynamics of organizational change. Within a total population of family service agencies in the United States providing counseling, the stages, pros and cons, and processes of planned change to time-limited therapy (TLT were assessed. Measurement development occurred in the design of staging decisional balance, and processes measures for changing to TLT. A series of MANOVAs were run comparing groups representing five stages of change. Follow-up Tukey tests determined which specific stages differed from each other. Each of the study’s dimensions was found to have systematic relationships predicted by the Transtheoretical Model of change.
Levesque, D.A., Prochaska, J.M., & Prochaska, J.O. (1999). Stages of change and integrated service delivery. Consulting Psychology Journal, 51, 226-241. abstract
Abstract: In the past 20 years, the transtheoretical model of change (i.e., the stage model) has arisen as one of the leading integrative approaches to individual behavior change. The case study presented here describes the application of the transtheoretical model to organizational change. Measures of core constructs of the model– stages of change and decisional balance– were developed to assess a university’s readiness for integrated service delivery and to guide the development of a stage-matched change management program that could minimize resistance and maximize the likelihood of successful change. Thirty-one university staff and administrators completed an assessment containing the stage and decisional balance measures as well as measures of behaviors representing the goals of integrated service delivery. Data provide preliminary evidence of the applicability of the model to integrated service delivery. For example, stage of change displayed characteristic relationships to behavior and the pros and cons of integrated service delivery. On the basis of the pattern of findings, a stage-matched change management program was developed, tailored lo the organization’s readiness to change.
Xiao, J.J., Newman, B.M., Prochaska, J.M., Leon, B., & Bassett, R.L., Johnson, J. (2004). Applying the Transtheoretical Model of Change to Consumer Debt Behavior. Financial Counseling and Planning Education, 15, 77-88. abstract
Abstract: The Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) provided the framework for developing a measure to assess readiness to get out of credit card debt with consumers who are having credit card debt troubles. Key constructs of TTM include stages of change, decisional balance, self-efficacy, and processes of change. The items for the measure were developed by qualitative interviews with experts in credit counseling and consumers with debt troubles. A survey was then completed with a sample of debt-troubled consumers. Multiple quantitative analyses were conducted to determine the reliability and validity of the measure. The results have potential for use by counseling practitioners, educators, and researchers.