The Five A's Model
The 5 A's model was developed by the National Cancer Institute to help people quit smoking, and has been refined to be applied to any behaviour change. The 5 A's stand for:
- Ask (to get pts to listen to you, listen to them)
- do you view inactivity as a problem?
- does being inactive concern you in any way?
- are you interested in becoming more active?
- are you ready to do something to accomplish right now?
- Assess
- why do you want to become more active?
- how hard are you willing to work to fit increased activity into your life?
- are you ready to work now to gain benefits later?
- Advise
- make clear, specific, personalized recommendations
- encourage SMART goals
- remind patient to accept small gains
- advise the patient to identify barriers/temptations/confidence
- Assist
- use behaviour-change techniques, either self-help or counseling, to help the patient reach goals
- encourage and support success through skills, confidence, and social/environmental supports
- problem solve to address barriers and temptations
- make yourself available contingent upon change - "if you meet goals, I'll see you more often"
- suuplement with other treatments, ie medications, if necessary
- Arrange
- schedule followups
- refer to community supports
- encourage patients to seek out active others
Resources and References
Five Steps to Intervention (the 5 A's). US Public Health Service, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.