Improving Exposure to Internet-Delivered Health Behaviour Change Interventions: An exploration of determinants and dissemination strategies
Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The Internet has become the key medium to obtain health information for many people. This\\nmakes the Internet an attractive and increasingly used medium for the delivery of health behaviour\\nchange programs aiming to contribute to the primary prevention of chronic diseases.\\nAlthough in theory Internet applications hold great promise for the delivery of health promotion\\nand behaviour change interventions, evidence suggests that the use of such Internet\\ninterventions is disappointingly low, especially when these interventions are implemented\\nfor use by the general public. Until recently, research on Internet-delivered health behaviour\\nchange interventions primarily focused on the effect evaluation of such interventions in more\\nor less controlled research settings. Considerably less research attention has been directed at\\nexploring or promoting, the dissemination, reach and use of such interventions after they have\\nbecome available for use by the public. In order to improve overall impact of these interventions,\\nmore insight is needed in how to improve dissemination, reach and use of Internetdelivered\\nhealth promotion interventions.\\nThis thesis reports on six studies that identify which factors can contribute to a better dissemination\\nof and exposure to Internet-delivered health behaviour change interventions (from\\nnow on referred to as \\'Internet interventions\\') for adult target populations. The focus will be\\non Internet interventions aimed to promote health behaviours that contribute to the primary\\nprevention of chronic diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and\\ncancer. Such interventions include programs that promote healthy eating and physical activity,\\nthat encourage smoking cessation and discourage alcohol consumption. The thesis focuses\\non interventions aiming to reach the general adult public and on implementation in real-life\\nsettings (i.e., outside of a study setting). This introductory chapter describes the trends in\\naccess and use of the Internet, the background of Internet interventions, the study aims, the\\ntheoretical frameworks used in this thesis, and presents an overview of the individual studies\\nwithin this thesis.
Author: W. Brouwer
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1523742275