In order to assist people in making positive changes of problematic behaviour it is necessary to examine how people change and what factors influence the process. Criminal offenders represent a group of individuals who often have difficulty desisting from problematic behaviour and continue to engage in illegal activity. Offenders in provincial correctional institutions were administered questionnaires to determine stage of change and processes utilized as outlined in the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1984). Additionally, offenders were asked about their visions of the future using the Possible Selves (PSs) Model (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Taken together, this study looked at the contribution of the PSs Model to our understanding of the TTM, which has been criticized in recent years as lacking therapeutic significance for treatment providers as they guide individuals through the change process. More specifically, this study compares chronic criminals with first time offenders on psychological variables such as readiness for change, vision of possible selves, and hope for the future, as well as on legal variables such as risk for recidivism and institutional behaviour. The results indicate that most offenders acknowledged their behaviour as problematic and some even reported they were actively taking steps to change; however, chronic offenders admitted having less hope than first time offenders. Interestingly, both groups rated similarly on the dimensions of PSs. The outcomes would suggest that research efforts to incorporate other complimentary theories of change into the TTM, like the PSs model, may be helpful for understanding the process of change. While it seems these models may not be useful for predicting institutional behaviour, the data perhaps demonstrates the complexity of criminal behaviour and speaks to the necessity of further research in this population.

In order to assist people in making positive changes of problematic behaviour it is necessary to examine how people change and what factors influence the process. Criminal offenders represent a group of individuals who often have difficulty desisting from problematic behaviour and continue to engage in illegal activity. Offenders in provincial correctional institutions were administered questionnaires to determine stage of change and processes utilized as outlined in the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1984). Additionally, offenders were asked about their visions of the future using the Possible Selves (PSs) Model (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Taken together, this study looked at the contribution of the PSs Model to our understanding of the TTM, which has been criticized in recent years as lacking therapeutic significance for treatment providers as they guide individuals through the change process. More specifically, this study compares chronic criminals with first time offenders on psychological variables such as readiness for change, vision of possible selves, and hope for the future, as well as on legal variables such as risk for recidivism and institutional behaviour. The results indicate that most offenders acknowledged their behaviour as problematic and some even reported they were actively taking steps to change; however, chronic offenders admitted having less hope than first time offenders. Interestingly, both groups rated similarly on the dimensions of PSs. The outcomes would suggest that research efforts to incorporate other complimentary theories of change into the TTM, like the PSs model, may be helpful for understanding the process of change. While it seems these models may not be useful for predicting institutional behaviour, the data perhaps demonstrates the complexity of criminal behaviour and speaks to the necessity of further research in this population.

Because of the expense associated with hospital admissions, the use of observation status has grown. One of the most consistently measured outcomes in observation is the patient length of stay (LOS). Research supports the positive impact that nurse practitioners (NP) have on LOS when added to other service lines that could be applied to observation. Banner Desert Medical Center (BDMC) is currently attempting to decrease their observation LOS. Adding acute care nurse practitioners (ACNP) to the care delivery model is a potential intervention. The purpose of this project was to develop an executive summary to inform staff of current evidence that supports the addition of ACNPs to observation. Then, via a survey, the project aimed to determine the level of staff support by identifying the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) Stage of Change and to recommend appropriate stage-matched interventions for staff based on TTM processes of change. The 10 Likert scale survey questions were adapted from two validated TTM surveys. The final question asked for the pros and cons of the intervention to determine the Decisional Balance (DB). The registered nurse (RN) cohort demonstrated consistently strong support for the proposed intervention with an average mean response of 6.57 on affirmative questions and a correspondingly low average mean of 2.2 on negative questions. When compared to the RN cohort, the physician cohort had lower mean responses with an average of 4.29 on every affirmative, a higher average mean response of 3.85 on the negatively worded questions. The DB for RNs was 19 pros to two cons. The DB for physicians was eight cons to three pros. These finding reflect that nurses are in the Preparation Stage of Change and are ready to move forward with adding ACNPs. An appropriate stage-matched intervention for registered nurses would be the development of change teams. In contrast, the physician cohort is in the Precontemplation stage and is not ready to proceed with adding ACNPs. Appropriate stage-matched interventions for physicians would include facilitating consciousness-raising activities such as an open forum to communicating information about the proposed change and to explore concerns and questions regarding the intervention.

A review of literature indicates limited effort to understand and explain employees' acclimation to, and adoption of, new behaviors required by organization change initiatives. Psychological theories of individual behavior change have, in restricted instances, been applied into organizational environments. The transtheoretical model of change (TTM) offers a comprehensive explanation of behavior change uniting multiple theories of individual change. TTM describes change as a series of stages that individual progress through before arriving at the decision to implement a change in behavior. Movement through the stages is facilitated by processes which increase the probability of a behavior change effort's success. The present research investigated the potential applicability of TTM for explaining individual level change within a new context, specifically, an organizational environment. To examine if individual change in the context of an organization occurs in the fashion described by TTM, measures of core TTM constructs were delivered to employees in a water department of a city in the American southwest. The water department was immersed in an organization change initiative necessitating individual behavior change by its employees. Results of TTM core construct measures and their relationships with each other and the stages of change were examined. Initial findings are indicative of TTM's potential applicability as a description of behavior change within an organizational context. Implications of these findings, potential applications, imitations of the current research, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The online delivery of higher education courses and programs continues to expand across academic disciplines at colleges and universities. This expansion of online education has been precipitated by, among other things, (a) the rise in personal computer ownership, (b) the ease of access to the Internet, (c) the availability and continuous improvement in technology for the delivery of online courses, and (d) the increase in demand for online courses by both traditional and nontraditional students. However, the proliferation of online education has not been enthusiastically supported by all constituents of higher education. Specifically, some faculty members remain resistant to the shift to online course delivery. This article applies the Transtheoretical Model of Change to the process of gaining faculty support for, and involvement in, online learning. After briefly reviewing current issues in online education and making a case for its adoption, we describe sources of faculty resistance and offer recommendations for interventions that may be applied to transforming faculty resistance to support and eventually to active participation.

The online delivery of higher education courses and programs continues to expand across academic disciplines at colleges and universities. This expansion of online education has been precipitated by, among other things, (a) the rise in personal computer ownership, (b) the ease of access to the Internet, (c) the availability and continuous improvement in technology for the delivery of online courses, and (d) the increase in demand for online courses by both traditional and nontraditional students. However, the proliferation of online education has not been enthusiastically supported by all constituents of higher education. Specifically, some faculty members remain resistant to the shift to online course delivery. This article applies the Transtheoretical Model of Change to the process of gaining faculty support for, and involvement in, online learning. After briefly reviewing current issues in online education and making a case for its adoption, we describe sources of faculty resistance and offer recommendations for interventions that may be applied to transforming faculty resistance to support and eventually to active participation.

Women ages 20–39 years old have seen the most dramatic increase in obesity levels in the United States over the last 2 decades. Researchers have indicated the need for studies to increase motivation in women to promote daily exercise. There is a gap in the literature about what motivational factors are most effective with increasing exercise in daily life. Using the transtheoretical model of change (TM) as the grounding theory, this study measured daily exercise adherence. A selective sampling of women ages 20–39 years old in the United States were recruited to complete an online survey. The online survey included two sections: one to screen participants with informed consent, and the survey itself, including 4 original questions to obtain further information about type of exercise, access to social support, readiness for change, and exercise adherence. A full version of the Exercise Motivations Inventory–2 (EMI-2) was also administered to determine exercise motivation. In total, 105 women were surveyed in the full study and multiple regression was used to assess the findings. Results of the study confirm prior research findings that women engage in exercise due to positive health, ill-health avoidance, and to control weight. In addition, women in the present study indicated positive social support affects daily exercise adherence. The results of this study may contribute to positive social change by furthering our understanding of what contributes to exercise adherence in the United States.

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No description available.

The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change was used to assess change in investing behavior among Investing For Your Future home-study course participants. The goal of Investing For Your Future is to help people improve their personal finance behaviors leading to financial security in later life. On average, after course participation fourteen of the fifteen investing behaviors were identified in the desired stages of established behavior. The study was based on Prochaska's Transtheoretical Model of Change (1979), including five different stages of behavior. This study investigated at what stage of change course participants are in for certain investing behaviors since completing Investing For Your Future (O'Neill et al., 2000). The stages of behavior are: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance. The desired stage was either the action or maintenance stage, which indicated that the investing behavior has been established. A person in the precontemplation stage is not thinking of future needs, not taking any actions to prepare for investing. Someone in the contemplation stage has set investing goals, but is not otherwise preparing to do the investing behavior. Someone in the preparation stage has both set goals and actively sought after information about the investing behavior. An individual in the action stage has not only done the preparatory actions, but has also engaged in the investing behavior. Finally, an individual in the maintenance stage has met the investing behavior action over an ongoing period of time. The quantitative survey design of this study was adapted from Dillman's Mail and Internet Surveys (2002). A survey questionnaire was created online using multiple choice and open-ended questions and was sent to the sample as a link in an email. The population consisted of Investing For Your Future (O'Neill et al., 2000) online course participants from April 1, 2001 through April 11, 2005. The initial sample consisted of 1,123, however at least 415 members of the sample never received the survey, reducing the sample to 708 people. Upon sending out the email, many error reports were received stating that the recipient did not receive the email. Response rates for the survey were very low, and can be attributed to multiple problems. / Master of Science