Reader in Clinical Health Psychology

Send response to journal: Re: Understanding guideline implementation: the contribution of psychology Sheldon et al (2004) have provided useful evidence of the problem of guideline implementation in a study of NICE guidance. They found variable implementation of 12 sets of guidance, published 2001-2002. This raises the question of “why the variation?” Implementation of guidance depends on the behaviour of individual health professionals. Psychology, the study of behaviour, has developed a range of theories that can help explain variability in guideline implementation 1. A recent consensus project, involving both health psychologists and health service researchers, identified 12 domains of explanatory variables, deriving from theoretical constructs from 33 theories of behaviour relevant to guideline implementation. The resulting 12 theoretical construct domains form a framework for understanding and changing problems of implementation 2. The construct domains are: (1) knowledge, (2) skills, (3) professional role and identity, (4) beliefs about capabilities, (5) beliefs about consequences, (6) motivation and goals, (7) memory, attention and decision processes, (8) environmental context and resources, (9) social influences, (10) emotion an