Attempting to create behaviour change using an ethnographic approach: A family-based study

Abstract

The following study is an ethnographic approach to changing behaviour towards physical activity with a recently retired family member by using a physical activity intervention. The overall aim of this study was to attempt to create some sort of behaviour change using the Prochaska & DiClemente (1983) Transtheoretical Model (TTM) as a framework. There is a wide range of previous research on the subject of interventions and how best to apply them and the differing environments (Stubbs & Lavin, 2002; Michie & Abraham, 2004; Ransdell, Taylor, Oakland, Schmidt, Moyer-Mileur & Schultz, 2003). There is a long process involved before commencing with an intervention, involving interviews, questionnaires, planning and evaluating. Additionally, the study assessed my Father’s psychological measures, as opposed to focusing on physiological measures. The exercise undertaken each week was calculated using the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ) calculation to assess whether there was an increase/decrease from baseline week to post-intervention. Despite the focus of the study analysing any change in behaviour, the use of the GLTEQ calculation enables for a greater understanding of how much exercise was being completed each week, in comparison to the baseline, my Father’s weight was also recorded, prior to the intervention commencing, post-intervention and after the completion of the whole study. The results found that there was a short term increase in physical activity from the baseline week compared to the weeks of independent activity. Furthermore, my father appeared to have extra positive feelings towards exercise before an activity after the intervention than beforehand.