ABSTRACT
Major themes in the behavioral medicine literature are: intervention to modify problematic or maladaptive behavior; behavior of the health care professional; the use of behavioral strategies to facilitate compliance with a prescribed medical regimen; and the prevention of illness. The primary goal of behavioral intervention is to alter present maladaptive patterns of behavior. Several approaches have been described: self-monitoring, cueing, stimulus control, modification of incentives, and rehearsal. Maintenance of therapeutic improvement, a difficult problem in all psychological-behavioral therapy, has been attempted in five different ways: conditioning, booster sessions, reprogramming the environment, self-control methods, and symbolic operations. There are two popular ways to increase the probability of compliance behavior and behavior change. The first is to offer an intervention package comprising several behavioral strategies. The second technique consists of placing marked emphasis on self-control procedures. Prevention involves the modification of certain aspects of lifestyle that may be maladaptive, for example, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and insufficient or excessive physical activity.
