Abstract IA22: Using risk assessment tools to motivate behavior change

Epidemiology identifies risk factors for cancer and other diseases based on the idea that conveying such information to healthcare providers, the general public, and policy makers will result in population-wide improvements in healthy behaviors and, consequently, population-wide improvements in health outcomes. These actions assume that the audience understands and uses the information to make health-related decisions. However, the language of epidemiology, which is steeped in probabilistic thinking, is not necessarily the language of the general public. Furthermore, growing evidence suggests that the language of epidemiology is not particularly well-understood by policy makers or even, disconcertingly, by some healthcare providers. This presentation will accomplish three objectives. First, it will demonstrate how a user-friendly, Internet-based, personalized risk assessment tool that uses established principles of risk communication and is grounded in health behavior change theories can increase motivation to change behavior. It will accomplish this in the context of using Your Disease Risk to inform women about the association between physical activity and breast cancer risk. Second, it will illustrate the development of a novel personalized risk assessment tool that increases understanding of the link between lifestyle behaviors and overall health and wellness. Specifically, it translates cumulative incidence data about five diseases that cause significant morbidity and mortality (i.e., colon cancer, breast cancer (women), heart disease, diabetes, and stroke) into a tool that conveys personalized risk estimates in a comprehensible and useful way for laypeople from diverse socio-demographic backgrounds. The premise is that illustrating how a single behavior can affect the likelihood of developing several diseases could foster a more coherent and meaningful picture of the behavior9s importance in reducing health risks and could increase motivation to engage in the behavior. The behavioral context for this study is also physical activity. Third, this presentation discuss the limits of tools that convey only risk information and do not help users bridge the gap between wanting to change their behavior and having the knowledge, skills, and confidence to actually initiate and maintain such changes. Citation Format: Erika A. Waters. Using risk assessment tools to motivate behavior change. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Improving Cancer Risk Prediction for Prevention and Early Detection; Nov 16-19, 2016; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(5 Suppl):Abstract nr IA22.