This text is part of the special section Philanthropy
At the Montreal Behavioral Medicine Center, located at the Sacré-Coeur Hospital in Montreal, researchers study human behavior and its impact on health.
On a daily basis, our behavior and the decisions we make have an impact on our state of physical and mental health, and on the diseases that we are likely to develop. The study of these phenomena is the raison d’être of the Montreal Behavioral Medicine Center (CMCM).
This branch of medicine is concerned with the impacts and role of psychosocial and behavioral factors in the development and progression of disease. At the CMCM, which includes researchers from the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Concordia University and UQAM, several research projects are being carried out simultaneously.
Pandemic and behaviors
Historically, the laboratory, which employs 42 people, has mainly focused on chronic diseases, such as respiratory disorders, diabetes and obesity. But a large ongoing study, called iCARE and involving more than 150,000 participants in 170 countries, has looked at human behaviors in the context of COVID-19.
“With the pandemic, we saw an opportunity to understand the attitudes of the population and the challenges of mobilization in this context,” explains Kim Lavoie, full professor in psychology and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Behavioral Medicine at the ‘UQAM. The researcher is behind this initiative.
Using regular questionnaires, the study scrutinizes participants’ habits and collects data regarding health behaviors, such as hand washing and mask wearing, among other things. It will continue over the next four years. To date, around twenty scientific publications have been produced based on the analysis of the results.
“In particular, we are studying what motivates people to adhere or not to health recommendations and measures,” says Simon Bacon, full professor at Concordia University and co-holder of the FRQS Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health.
And what is the best approach to convince the population?
“To have behavioral changes, you need three factors, what we call the KMC model, for English words knowledge (knowledge), motivation (the desire to change) and confidence (confidence in one’s ability to effect change), explains Simon Bacon. If you lack one of these three factors, we will not change. Most of the time, the emphasis is on the first part, informing people, but in the context of the pandemic, knowledge has been a weak link. People were mostly told what to do, what was good or bad, without explaining why. »
Other CMCM projects
Simon Bacon and his colleagues work with technology. In particular, they developed the Acceleration 2.0 program, which aims to change participants’ eating and physical activity habits, particularly targeting people at risk of developing chronic diseases.
“There are many applications online that aim to change behavior,” he says. With our free 12-week program, the aim is to take into account each person’s unique situation and state of mind and offer personalized help using artificial intelligence. We are trying to develop a system that adapts. »
Another project is to develop a support program for bariatric surgery patients.
“Currently, people are offered surgery, but there is no support to help them change their behavior,” says Kim Lavoie. This means that after a few years, people have to come back. Patients need psychosocial and behavioral support. »
In addition, the CMCM is engaged in training for doctors to give them tools so that they can help their own patients to change their behavior.
“In medicine, they are not trained to change behaviors, says Kim Lavoie. Training programs are developed, especially in the area of chronic disease prevention and management. These programs are empirically tested and measurement tools are developed to determine whether the participating physicians reach the expected competency thresholds in the skills they are taught. This is done with digital and interactive tools, for example with virtual patients, to simulate and measure the application of the knowledge acquired. »
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