HW315 Unit 7 Motivational Strategy Plan Example

Eggs First, Then a Sheet Pan: A Unit 7 Motivational Strategy Plan Built on the Four Sources of Self-Efficacy

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

HW315: Models for Health and Wellness

Unit 7 Motivational Strategy Plan

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The widower, his family and the community program are composite; the self-efficacy theory and the study of older men's eating cited are real.

The Client

Harold, a composite 60-year-old retired postal carrier, lost his wife fourteen months ago after thirty-four years of marriage. She did all the cooking. Since her death he has eaten breakfast at a gas station, lunch from the microwave and dinner from a drive-through or a frozen tray. His physician noted rising blood pressure and weight at his last visit and suggested he "eat more home-cooked food." Harold told the wellness coach: "I'd cook if I knew how. I can't even do eggs without burning them."

Older men who live alone often eat poorly, and a study of such men found that those with good cooking skills reported better health and ate more vegetables than those without (Hughes et al., 2004). Harold's problem is not a lack of interest in his health but a lack of belief that he can produce a meal.

Why Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy, in Bandura's original paper, is the conviction that one can successfully carry out the steps an outcome depends on, and it is fed by four streams (Bandura, 1977): doing it successfully, seeing others like oneself do it, being told credibly that one can, and the feelings and bodily states a person brings to the task. "I'd cook if I knew how" is a statement of low self-efficacy, not low motivation. A plan built on information about nutrition would miss the problem. A plan built on the four sources aims at it directly.

The Plan, Source by Source

1. Mastery experience. Mastery is the strongest source of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), so the plan begins with dishes that are almost certain to succeed. Week one: scrambled eggs, made three times, with the coach's one-page instructions taped inside a cabinet. Week two: a sheet-pan dinner of chicken thighs and potatoes, which needs only chopping and an oven timer. Week three: a pot of chili, which tolerates mistakes and makes leftovers. Each dish is repeated until Harold says it went well, and only then does the next one begin. Progress in his terms: "made it without burning it."

2. Vicarious experience. Watching someone similar succeed builds self-efficacy more than watching an expert (Bandura, 1977). The plan enrolls Harold in a six-week cooking class for men over fifty-five at the community center, where most participants are widowers or divorced men cooking for the first time. A television chef would show what an expert can do; men like Harold show what Harold can do. Progress in his terms: "if Jim can do it, so can I."

3. Verbal persuasion. Persuasion works when it is specific and credible (Bandura, 1977). Harold's daughter calls every Sunday. The coach will suggest she ask what he cooked that week and comment on something specific, such as "you used real garlic?", rather than general praise. Progress in his terms: having something to tell her on Sundays.

4. Emotional states. The kitchen is where Harold feels his wife's absence most; he described standing in it and "seeing her at the stove." Emotional distress lowers self-efficacy and makes failure more likely (Bandura, 1977). Early cooking sessions will happen at lunchtime, in daylight, rather than in the evening, when the house is quietest and her absence is sharpest. The coach will also ask whether he would like to cook one of her recipes later, when he is ready, as a way of keeping her part of the kitchen rather than avoiding it. Progress in his terms: "the kitchen doesn't feel like hers anymore, it feels like ours."

Each of the four rows answers a different reason Harold cannot yet picture himself cooking, and the emotional row is planned with the most care because grief in that room could undo the other three.

Sequencing

The four sources are not delivered all at once. Mastery and emotional states come first, in weeks one to three, because early failures in a painful room would confirm his belief that he cannot cook. The class begins in week four, once he has three dishes he can make. His daughter's calls run throughout but change in content as he has more to report.

Noticing Progress

Progress is measured in Harold's own terms rather than in nutrients. Each week the coach asks three questions: What did you cook? How did it go? How sure are you, from zero up to ten, that you could make it again? A rising confidence score is the primary sign that the plan is working. Fewer drive-through dinners, which he can estimate himself, is the secondary sign.

Risks and Responses

If a dish fails badly, the plan returns to the previous one rather than pushing ahead, to protect his growing confidence. If grief makes the kitchen intolerable for a period, the coach will suggest he talk with his physician or a grief counselor, since that support lies outside a wellness coach's role. If the class does not suit him, a neighbor or friend who cooks could serve as the similar model instead.

Link to Broader Theory

Self-efficacy is a central construct of Social Cognitive Theory, which also stresses outcome expectations and the environment (Bandura, 2004). The plan touches both: the expectation that home cooking will help his blood pressure is already present, and the environment is adjusted through the taped instructions and the lunchtime schedule.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191

Bandura, A. (2004). Health promotion by social cognitive means. Health Education & Behavior, 31(2), 143-164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198104263660

Hughes, G., Bennett, K. M., & Hetherington, M. M. (2004). Old and alone: Barriers to healthy eating in older men living on their own. Appetite, 43(3), 269-276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2004.06.002