Psychology professor studies detrimental behaviors in hopes of a healthier lifestyle

01/22/09 - Is one of your New Year's resolutions to create a healthy lifestyle for yourself? James Prochaska, a professor of psychology at the University of Rhode Island and director of the Cancer Prevention Research Center, conducts research pertaining to achieving and maintaining a healthier lifestyle."At this time of the year, around the new year, people do not have to be ready to take action in order to start progressing," Prochaska said. "They can be more ambitious with their goals and look to change multiple areas of their lifestyle. This is not just for [the general public, but also for] students."

Surveys in the intervention center show that the No. 1 reason college students do not exercise enough is because they feel it will damage their academic standing.

Prochaska said one of the most surprising conclusions he has come across in his research is how "we could get 80 percent or more of people with risks to participate in health-promotion programs," he said.

He said students who want to be proactive about maintaining a healthy lifestyle can "make a list of the pros and cons of exercising."

According to Prochaska, "there are over 60 scientific benefits of exercising."

Within the last five years, Prochaska and his team of faculty and student researchers have been working to make beneficial changes in people's lives by focusing on many factors simultaneously. Ten of the detrimental behaviors of a person's lifestyle which researchers are observing include exercising, healthy weight management, diet, stress management, depression and adherence with medications and smoking.

"Our ultimate goal is to change as many health-risk behaviors with as many people as possible," Prochaska said.

Based on his research, he has determined that approximately three percent of Americans do not need to change their dietary, exercising, smoking or weight management standards.

"Folks with multiple risks are the highest risks for chronic disease and cost the most for health care and are the most costly for college students as well as employees," Prochaska said.

They also conduct assessments to determine a person's progress toward reaching a healthier lifestyle.

"We can help them to accelerate that process and do a better job," Prochaska said.

An example of his research can be seen through statistics that he has analyzed about smokers in the United States.

According to Prochaska, 40 percent of smokers are not ready to quit. Another 40 percent are getting ready to quit within the next six months, and 20 percent are ready to drop their smoking habits within the month.

"Until our work, the programs available were only designed for the 20 percent of people who are ready to quit smoking," Prochaska said.

Even if researchers are dealing with just a few behaviors, it is still possible to "be just as successful as when we're dealing with just smoking," he said.