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The contributions of behaviour change science towards dental public health practice: a new paradigm
Author(s) -
Asimakopoulou Koula,
Newton Jonathon Tim
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/cdoe.12131
Subject(s) - mainstream , behaviour change , medicine , behavioural sciences , work (physics) , process (computing) , cognition , oral health , behavior change , public health , paradigm shift , management science , cognitive psychology , engineering ethics , data science , epistemology , social science , psychology , computer science , sociology , dentistry , psychiatry , psychological intervention , mechanical engineering , philosophy , theology , nursing , pathology , engineering , economics , operating system
Conventional behavioural models, such as social cognition models, to improve oral health have been proposed for a long time but have failed to consistently explain reliable amounts of variability in human behaviours relevant to oral health. This paper introduces current work from the behavioural sciences aiming to better understand the process through which behaviour change may take place. Given the shortcomings seen so far in attempts to explain behaviour through traditional models it is proposed that a new approach is adopted. This commentary outlines this new approach, grounded in current work by mainstream behaviour change experts. We propose that attempts to use unreliable theoretical models to explain and predict oral health behaviour should now be replaced by work following this new paradigm.