Understanding the potential of teachable moments: the case of smoking cessation.

Full Abstract

The label 'teachable moment' (TM) has been used to describe naturally occurring health events thought to motivate individuals to spontaneously adopt risk-reducing health behaviors. This manuscript summarizes the evidence of TMs for smoking cessation, and makes recommendations for conceptual and methodological refinements to improve the next generation of related research. TM studies were identified for the following event categories:
office visits, notification of abnormal test results, pregnancy, hospitalization and disease diagnosis. Cessation rates associated with pregnancy, hospitalization and disease diagnosis were high (10-60 and 15-78%, respectively), whereas rates for clinic visits and abnormal test results were consistently lower (2-10 and 7-21%, respectively). Drawing from accepted conceptual models, a TM heuristic is outlined that suggests three domains underlie whether a cueing event is significant enough to be a TM for smoking cessation:
the extent to which the event (1) increases perceptions of personal risk and outcome expectancies, (2) prompts strong affective or emotional responses, and (3) redefines self-concept or social role. Research in TMs could be improved by giving greater attention to assessment of conceptually grounded cognitive and emotional variables, appropriately timed assessment and intervention, and inclusion of appropriate target and comparison samples.

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Author information

Author/s: McBride, C M (CM); Emmons, K M (KM); Lipkus, I M (IM);

Affiliation: Cancer Prevention, Detection and Control Research Program, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. mcbri002(-atsign-)mc.duke.edu

Grants: CA 72099 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; CA 74000 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; CA 76945 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; CA 80262 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; CA 89009 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; MH 56846 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Health education research (Health Educ Res), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Apr; vol 18 (issue 2) : pp 156-70

Dates: Created 2003/05/05; Completed 2003/06/10; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 12729175, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Motivation
Pregnancy
Smoking Cessation - methods
Teaching - methods

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