title: Hale and Hearty Policies: How Psychological Science Can Create and Maintain Healthy Habits.
abstract: Strategies are needed to ensure that the U.S. Government meets its goals for improving the health of the nation (e.g., Healthy People 2020). To date, progress toward these goals has been undermined by a set of discernible challenges: People lack sufficient motivation, they frequently fail to translate healthy intentions into action, their efforts are undermined by the persistence of prior unhealthy habits, and they have considerable difficulty maintaining new healthy patterns of behavior. Guided by advances in psychological science, we provide innovative, evidence-based policies that address each of these challenges and, if implemented, will enhance people's ability to create and maintain healthy behavioral practices.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota rothm001@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Rothman
authors.affiliation: New York University/University of Konstanz.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Gollwitzer
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Catalyst Behavioral Sciences.
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: Paschal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sheeran
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D006184:Habits; D015438:Health Behavior; D006291:Health Policy; D040361:Healthy People Programs / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D009042:Motivation; D011584:Psychology; D014481:United States
keywords: habits; health behavior; intention; maintenance; policy