Behavior Change

“Our research is not just about empowering people to adopt healthy habits. It’s also about changing medical systems to best support these behavior changes."

Joseph Glass, PhD, MSW
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute Senior Investigator

Research overview

If you’re like most people, your health depends more on what you do every day than on what your health care provider can do for you. Nonetheless, making healthy lifestyle choices can be difficult, especially when it means changing your daily routine and then maintaining these changes over time. That’s why scientists with Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) are working to make the right choices the easy and sustainable ones.

Research suggests that approximately one-third of all deaths in the Unites States are related to 4 behavioral risk factors: physical inactivity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol use.  But other behaviors are also critical to health and well-being, such as not misusing prescription opioids or marijuana, getting routine cancer screenings, and following your providers’ medical advice.

Historically, KPWHRI's research has tested different forms of behavioral counseling or novel ways to deliver this counseling. Increasingly, we are now testing digital therapeutic interventions delivered via smartphone app or text — for example, to help people set and achieve their health goals. People like the convenience of digital interventions, but it remains to be seen how effective they are and for whom they work best. Our research is helping to answer these important questions.

KPWHRI’s behavioral medicine research includes:

 

Recent Publications on Behavior Change

Schnoll R, Bernstein SL, Kaufman A, Gross R, Catz SL, Cioe PA, Hitsman B, Marhefka SL, Pacek LR, Vidrine DJ, Vilardaga R, Edelman EJ, McClure JB, Ashare R, Lockhart E, Crothers K. Covid-19 challenges confronted by smoking cessation clinical trials for people living with HIV: the experience of grantees of the United States National Cancer Institute. Nicotine Tob Res. 2021 Feb 28;ntab035. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab035. Online ahead of print. PubMed

McCurry SM, Zhu W, Von Korff M, Wellman R, Morin CM, Thakral M, Yeung K, Vitiello MV. Effect of telephone cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in older adults with osteoarthritis pain: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2021 Feb 22:e209049. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.9049. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Nguyen NH, Vallance JK, Buman MP, Moore MM, Reeves MM, Rosenberg DE, Boyle T, Milton S, Friedenreich CM, English DR, Lynch BM. Effects of a wearable technology-based physical activity intervention on sleep quality in breast cancer survivors: the ACTIVATE Trial. J Cancer Surviv. 2020 Sep 1. doi: 10.1007/s11764-020-00930-7. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Thakral M, Von Korff M, McCurry SM, Morin CM, Vitiello MV. Changes in dysfunctional beliefs about sleep after cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.  Sleep Med Rev. 2019 Nov 9;49:101230. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2019.101230. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Grekin E, Beatty JE, McGoron L, Kugler KC, McClure JB, Pop DE, Ondersma SJ. Testing the efficacy of motivational strategies, empathic reflections, and lifelike features in a computerized intervention for alcohol use: a factorial trial. Psychol Addict Behav. 2019 Sep;33(6):511-519. doi: 10.1037/adb0000502. Epub 2019 Aug 22. PubMed

Researchers in Behavior Change

Katharine A. Bradley, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-2151
Katharine.A.Bradley@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Paula Lozano, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator; Director, ACT Center
206-287-2113
Paula.Lozano@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Jennifer B. McClure, PhD

Director, Investigative Science
206-287-2737
Jennifer.B.Mcclure@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Dori E. Rosenberg, PhD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-2532
Dori.E.Rosenberg@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

James D. Ralston, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-2076
James.D.Ralston@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Ben Balderson, PhD

Senior Collaborative Scientist
206-287-2803
Benjamin.H.Balderson@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH, MSW

Assistant Investigator
206-287-2021
Gwen.T.Lapham@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Melissa L. Anderson, MS

Principal Collaborative Biostatistician
206-287-2647
Melissa.L.Anderson@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Paula R. Blasi, MPH

Collaborative Scientist
206-287-2094
Paula.R.Blasi@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Joseph E. Glass, PhD, MSW

Associate Investigator
206-287-4266
Joseph.E.Glass@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH

Senior Investigator
206-287-2997
Bev.B.Green@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Julie E. Richards, PhD, MPH

Assistant Investigator
206-287-2100
Julie.E.Richards@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Leah K. Hamilton, PhD

Senior Collaborative Scientist
206-287-2515
Leah.K.Hamilton@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Chloe Krakauer, PhD

Collaborative Biostatistician
chloe.a.krakauer@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Mikael Anne Greenwood-Hickman, MPH

Collaborative Scientist
(206) 287-2908
Mikael.Anne.Greenwood-Hickman@kp.org

Pamela A. Shaw, PhD, MS

Senior Biostatistics Investigator
Pamela.A.Shaw@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Kelsey Stefanik-Guizlo, MPH

Collaborative Scientist
kelsey.i.stefanik-guizlo@kp.org

Curriculum vitae (CV)

Affiliate researchers

Sheryl L. Catz, PhD
Professor, Health Care Innovation and Technology, Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing
University of California–Davis

Sue McCurry, PhD
University of Washington (UW) Department of Psychosocial and Community Health

Emily Williams, PhD, MPH
UW Department of Health Services; VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence