Product Description

This fourth edition of the classic book, Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice provides a comprehensive, highly accessible, and in-depth analysis of health behavior theories that are most relevant to health education. This essential resource includes the most current information on theory, research, and practice at individual, interpersonal, and community and group levels. This edition includes substantial new content on current and emerging theories of health communication, e-health, culturally diverse communities, health promotion, the impact of stress, the importance of networks and community, social marketing, and evaluation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35424 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 592 pages

Review
?The wealth of information...within this book can help all of us in the field fine-tune the effectiveness of strategies and interventions designed to improve health-related behaviors. This book is definitely on my list as one of the top five big picture theoretical framework' resources for the serious public health professional.? (American Journal of Health Promotion)

?This edited volume does an admirable job of bridging the gap between theory and practice and providing examples of multiple levels of analysis— individual, group, organizational, and community...It is a valuable resource.?

?Frequently, in my role as a health educator and researcher, I have been asked by clinicians to recommAnd the reading or approach to use on how to change behavior. I have explained that it depAnds on one's theoretical perspective about health behavior and that no single study or approach has been proven to be clearly superior to another. In the future, however, I will be able to refer those who ask to the book by Glanz, Lewis, and Rimer.?

Review
Praise for Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice

"This book reflects with crystal clarity for students and practitioners the advances in theories and their application in health promotion and education since the previous edition, but also challenges the theorists and researchers to address the gaps that need to be filled before the next edition."
— Lawrence W. Green, visiting professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

"The third edition of Health Behavior and Health Education will be indispensable for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working to translate research into practice. This volume charts new territory-from research design to application-and gives the field the lift and vision we've needed."
— C. Tracy Orleans, senior scientist, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

"Regardless of the practice site for health educators, and the nature of the practical problems they address in their daily work, the theoretically-driven orientation of this book is a major resource. After all, there is nothing more practical than a good theory-and this text is full of them!"
— Nancy Fugate Woods, dean, School of Nursing, University of Washington

From the Back Cover
The fourth edition of the landmark book, Health Behavior and Health Education, offers an accessible, comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the health behavior theories and practices that are most relevant to health education. This thoroughly revised edition includes the most current information on theory, research, and practice at individual, interpersonal, and community and group levels. The volume includes substantial new content on current and emerging theories of health communication, e-health, culturally diverse communities, health promotion, the impact of stress, the importance of networks and community, social marketing, and evaluation.

Praise for the Fourth Edition of Health Behavior and Health Education

"Once again, the editors and contributors to the fourth edition of Health Behavior and Health Education provide up-to-date, comprehensive coverage of health behavior theories at the individual, interpersonal, and community levels along with meticulous attention to the application of theory for research and practice. This book is an extraordinary resource for students, researchers, practitioners, and policy markers."
—Susan J. Curry, Ph.D., dean, College of Public Health, University of Iowa

"This unique volume, with its astonishing breadth and depth, richly captures the energy and dynamism that is translating insight into intervention, planning into practice, and analysis into action. Both public health students and practitioners will find the book engaging and useful."
—Howard Koh, MD, MPH, Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health and associate dean, Public Health Practice, Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health

"The newest edition of Health Behavior and Health Education is a terrific volume linking theory to research and practice in the continuum of health behavior change. It reminds us of the need for theory to help us ask the right questions to move forward efficiently. There are few classic texts in the health behavior arena—and this is one of them."
—Michael Stefanek, Ph.D., vice president, Behavioral Research and director, Behavioral Research Center, American Cancer Society

Customer Reviews

Theory based research
This text is a comprehensive review of health related theories. It provides the reader with anlayses of several health behavior theories and extensive bibliographies. To the student who is interested in health behavior research, this text is an important first step because it gives many examples of how specific theories, concepts and constructs are used in research studies.

Not for a novice
Unarguably, Glanz et al know their theories. That, along with how comprehensive this book is, is as much of a positive review as I can give. My criticism of this book is not the expertise of Glanz et al. (They are quite obviously experienced intellectuals and are to be commended for their efforts.) My concern is:

HEHB is inappropriately used as a textbook. HEHB was a professor's textbook choice for a course I am taking. As theories of health behavior are relatively new to me, I found this book to be at a level much too advanced for those just learning of health theories. Glanz compounds the problem by introducing new material-theories--with word choices that are not conducive to learning. Have a dictionary close by if you're a newcomer to health behavior theory; Glanz et al do not make the learning process easy in their attempt to convey the message. The majority of my classmates, some participating as part of a Master's program, are having great difficulty with this text. We often comment on the numerous times we re-read the material in order to grasp the context.

HEHB does not serve well as a general textbook; rather, it is a reference resource for individuals seeking advanced knowledge and case citations.

A classic in the field of health education theory
This revised edition of the classic work by Glanz et al. demonstrates the benefits of poignant insight into the classic psychosocial and behavioral theories and how they relate to the field of public health and health education. Glanz leads the reader through most all of the major theories that apply to designing a public health intervention. In many of the chapters dedicated to individual theories, she includes extensive case studies of the practical implications of the theoretical work described within the main body of each chapter. Along with the other authors of this extensive compilation of classic health behavior and health education literature, Glanz develops within the reader a cohesive and fundamental understanding of theoretical approaches in order to make a successful, calculated, relevant, and effective public health education intervention.

Simply glancing through the pages contained within Glanz's masterwork tells the reader of the depth and breadth of the field that she covers in compiling this work. The theories are diverse and the approaches taken by each author equally diverse. Glanz nevertheless manages to accomplish the improbable and weave together an outstanding work encompassing all of these models and theories. For the public health professional, student, physician, or educator, Glanz's classic text on health behavior is essential for a simple, yet detailed understanding of all aspects of health behavior.