Does giving information and advice to family members about changing their unhealthy habits work? If so, you're the lucky one. Despite knowing the risks associated with unhealthy habits, many family members do not change.
Knowledge alone seldom changes behavior because giving information and advice addresses only surface change. For most people, behavior change is a complex process. People often emotionally resist change despite having the best intentions. They frequently value the short-term emotional benefits of their unhealthy habits (e.g. smoking to relax) over the long-term benefits of behavior change (e.g. prevent heart disease).
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To develop healthier habits, you and your family members need to work on any of the following "deep change" activities:
Enhance self-awareness of your perceptions about the risks, benefits and harms Understand why you emotionally resist change Explore motives Discover what it means to change Put healthy values into action Change identity (e.g., going from a smoker to non-smoker or from a overweight to a thin person). How can you help your family work more on deep change? First, use learning exercises and experience the process of deep change for yourself. Then share your experiences with your family and invite them to consider doing the same. This shared learning process can generate a positive cascade of benefits for you:
Reduce your frustrations in helping family members Develop more effective partnerships with them Engage family members in meaningful, change dialogues Create an individualized approach for improving their health habits Enhance their readiness to change Improve health outcomes for your family Enrich your family life.
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