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A change in behaviour: getting the balance right for research and policy

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Abstract

Behaviour change interventions offer clinical pharmacists many opportunities to optimise the use of medicines. ‘MINDSPACE’ is a framework used by a Government-affiliated organisation in the United Kingdom to communicate an approach to changing behaviour through policy. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) organises constructs of psychological theories that are most relevant to behaviour change into 14 domains. Both frameworks offer a way of identifying what drives a change in behaviour, providing a target for an intervention. This article aims to compare and contrast MINDSPACE and the TDF, and serves to inform pharmacy practitioners about the potential strengths and weaknesses of using either framework in a clinical pharmacy context. It appears that neither framework can deliver evidence-based interventions that can be developed and implemented with the pace demanded by policy and practice-based settings. A collaborative approach would ensure timely development of acceptable behaviour change interventions that are grounded in evidence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL, UK

    Maureen O’Sullivan & Carmel M. Hughes

  2. School of Pharmacy, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 123 St. Stephens Green, Dublin, Ireland

    Cristín Ryan

  3. Belfast City Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, 51 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7AB, UK

    Damian G. Downey

Authors
  1. Maureen O’Sullivan
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  2. Cristín Ryan
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  3. Damian G. Downey
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  4. Carmel M. Hughes
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Correspondence to Carmel M. Hughes.

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O’Sullivan, M., Ryan, C., Downey, D.G. et al. A change in behaviour: getting the balance right for research and policy. Int J Clin Pharm 38, 1027–1031 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-016-0351-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-016-0351-0

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