Health Promotion and Behavior Change

The entire course will be taught in English. This also includes assignments and exams.
 
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Analyse and compare key theories and frameworks of health behaviour change and their underlying mechanisms.
2. Critically evaluate health promotion and behaviour change interventions by reconstructing their logic and assessing the strength of the evidence base.
3. Identify mismatches, assumptions, and boundary conditions that limit intervention effectiveness.
4. Propose targeted, theoretically justified redesigns of existing interventions based on empirical evidence.
5. Apply advanced critical thinking skills to evaluate scientific literature and communicate evidence-informed analyses clearly.

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We all strive to live a healthy life, yet achieving and maintaining health is often difficult. Many health outcomes are strongly influenced by individual behaviour, such as choices related to physical activity, diet, substance use, and preventive practices. As a result, health promotion frequently focuses on changing individual behaviour. However, despite good intentions, behaviour change interventions often fail to achieve their intended impact.
This course provides an in-depth introduction to the psychological foundations of health promotion and behaviour change, with a strong emphasis on critical evaluation and improvement of existing interventions. Students engage with major theories and frameworks (e.g., COM-B, Social Cognitive Theory, fear appeals, mindfulness, habits) and examine how these are translated into practice. The course trains students to analyse interventions by reconstructing their assumed mechanisms of change, evaluating the supporting evidence, and identifying mismatches or limitations. Building on this analysis, students learn to propose targeted, theoretically grounded redesigns that address identified weaknesses.
Through lectures and tutorials, students develop advanced skills in theory-driven analysis, critical appraisal of scientific evidence, and evidence-informed reasoning in health promotion and behaviour change.