During a health visit a client who has been reviewing smoking cessatio

QUESTION

During a health visit a client who has been reviewing smoking cessation material states “I’ve already cut back from a pack a day to half a pack.” According to Prochaska and DiClemente, in which stage of change is this client?

1. Preparation
2. Precontemplation
3. Action
4. Contemplation

ANSWER:

Correct Answer: 1

This response reflects the preparation stage when the person undertakes cognitive and behavioral activities that prepare the person for change and may have already changed some small aspect of the behavior. Contemplation is when the patient seriously considers changing a specific behavior, actively gathers information, and verbalizes plans to make the change in the near future. In precontemplation the patient neither thinks about changing behavior nor is interested in information about the behavior. The action stage occurs when the person actively implements behavioral and cognitive strategies to interrupt previous behavior patterns and adopt new ones.