Scare Tactics Paper

Theresa,

“Scare tactics” are not successful in promoting change; they use punishment to make the patient feel ashamed and scared momentarily instead of using tactics that are health promoting and induce willingness to change. “Scare tactics” decrease the provider-patient relationship by showing provider dominance rather than a partnership.

Positive reinforcement is a better tactic to use during the precontemplation stage and all other stages of TTM. When positive reinforcement is used, both the patient and the provider look at what the patient has done to influence change and what can be done to make improvements. Under positive reinforcement providers can use social and activity reinforcement throughout all the stages of TTM to influence