Visit the NIH Stage Model of Behavioral Intervention Development page.
So how does our work at the Roybal Center for Promoting Adherence to Behavior Change & Enhancing Cognitive Function fit into this approach? We are addressing a critical challenge in the field: sustaining physical activity long after active interventions are withdrawn. Long-term behavior change from midlife through older adulthood is needed to stimulate the adaptations that prevent Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias.
The interventions we develop target three candidate mechanisms of action for promoting adherence to behavior change:
- Habit strength
- Identity
- Automatic affective evaluations
We seek to change these targets on slow time scales (e.g., weekly, monthly) by delivering targeted high-frequency, light-touch interventions on fast time scales (e.g., momentary, daily). By helping people to rewire themselves through patterned repetition, we aim to make it easier and less effortful for them to sustain behavior change beyond active intervention periods.
The Precision AIM intervention system is at the heart of our work. Precision AIM leverages dense, intensive longitudinal data from wearable and mobile devices to develop person-specific models of physical activity that characterize changes in behavioral dynamics following motivational text messages. This approach applies tools from control systems engineering to optimize the timing and selection of message content for helping a person to achieve a daily physical activity goal. We are now extending that person-specific dosing approach by (1) using generative artificial intelligence to generate the message content that engages mechanisms of both short-term behavior change and long-term adherence to behavior change.You can learn more about the specifics of our work in NIH Stages I-III (intervention generation/refinement, pure efficacy, and real-world efficacy studies) on our Projects page.
Six stages (shown in the Figure below) characterize the progression of intervention development from basic research to implementation and dissemination in community and clinical settings.
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Stage Model Figure
The Stage Model is grounded in the experimental medicine approach developed out of the NIH Science of Behavior Change Initiative. Experimental medicine involves a process of identifying, measuring, validating, and engaging candidate mechanisms of action during intervention development. This mechanism-focused approach facilitates principle-based intervention development.
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