Living SMART
Five Essential Skills To Change Your Health Habits Forever
Joshua C. Klapow, Ph.D., and Sheri D. Pruitt, Ph.D.
Publication Date: November 2007
Price: $14.95
ISBN 13: 978-0-9793564-0-7
Trade Paperback: 208 pages
Size: 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Includes Checklists, Charts, Resources
Living SMART is an easy-to-follow behavioral program that offers what others do not - a simple approach to changing any unhealthy behavior. Whether you want to quit smoking, reduce stress, start an exercise program, or make any other lifestyle change, its helpful tips, checklists, interactive exercises, charting tool to track progress, and specific action plans for some of the most common health-related issues, will get you on the right track – and keep you there. The book can be used in conjunction with the Living SMART website, which provides additional information, tips, and downloadable forms for your convenience. The SMART acronym refers to five essential skills:
Set a goal
Monitor your progress
Arrange your world for success
Recruit a support team
Treat yourself
The book is a useful resource for all psychologists, health coaches, case managers, and other health care professionals who work with individuals needing to make behavioral changes. It can be used as a guide to help patients and clients better understand the process of change and the mechanics of making lasting change. The book can be utilized as a focal part of group interventions; and as a component of a lifestyle modification, wellness, or disease management program. Living SMART is also a helpful reference and guide for delivering behavior change interventions.
CONTENTS:
Stop Fantasizing and Start Living SMART. What it Takes to Change Your Health. Let’s Get Started; The What: Know Exactly What Needs to Change; The Want: Decide Whether You Want to Change; The How: SMART Skills to Change Your Behavior; Stay on Track—Avoid Behavioral Drift; The Chart: Your All-In-One Behavior Change Tool Your Game Plans. My Diet Game Plan; My Exercise Game; My Sleep Game Plan; My Medication Game Plan. Get Help When You Need It. When Life Gets Tough: Coaching Sessions with Drs. Klapow and Pruitt; Action Tips for Special Situations; You CAN Do This. Appendices. Charts for Change; Resources.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Joshua C. Klapow, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He hosts the weekly television segments “Healthy Habits” and “The Healthy Action Minute,” on ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Alabama, and has been interviewed by a variety of national print and Internet media outlets including: Tribune Media Services, Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters Health, ABC News.com, Weightwatchers.com, iVillage.com, Kiplinger’s, Self, Men’s Health, Women’s Day, Prevention, Redbook, and Shape magazine. View a Healthy Action Minute, produced by UAB School of Public Health at http://www.drjoshk.com/
Sheri D. Pruitt, Ph.D. is a speaker, writer, and consultant in behavioral medicine and health psychology. She is Director of Behavioral Science Integration for The Permanente Medical Group in Sacramento, California, where she has developed an innovative, Internet-based health coaching program that provides motivation and behavioral skills training using new media technology at http://www.kpcoach.com/. Dr. Pruitt shares behavioral science expertise with local and national newspapers, radio, and television stations, including NBC, CBS, ABC, WB Network, Lifetime, and MTV.
Praise for Living Smart…
“Living Smart is an easy to read and easy to follow guide to healthier living. It teaches a set of behavioral skills to help individuals make sustainable changes in their lifestyles so as to stay healthy, enjoy life and prevent the onset of chronic conditions. Its authors Klapow and Pruitt have extensive experience in health coaching and transfer that expertise into effective and helpful exercises. By following each of the steps outlined in the book, the reader can immediately implement a program to eat better, exercise consistently and diminish the stress in their lives. If all Americans would follow these important steps, we could reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke dramatically. The five essential skills are a gateway to improving the health of all.” — Robert Pearl, MD, Executive Director and CEO, The Permanente Medical Group
“The process of change is a difficult one, even if the change is one that will improve the nature of your health and the quality of your life. As a result many Americans who seek to change their health-related behaviors fail to achieve a lasting change. In their book LIVING SMART, Drs Joshua Klapow and Sheri Pruitt help the reader achieve significant and lasting change in health-related habits. What makes their book truly unique and powerful is that they use the scientific principles of behavior change that have been researched and refined over the last century. This is not a new health fad, rather this is the application of science to improving health-related habits. This book is easy to read, yet powerful. It is a long overdue contribution that any reader will find informative and empowering.” — George S. Everly, Jr, PhD, The Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
“In Living Smart, Klapow and Pruitt, both clinical psychologists, provide the methods to assess health behaviors and the knowledge to guide change. Their simple “SMART” method allows an individual to assess critical behaviors, set goals, monitor progress, and support success. The book provides guidance for anyone who decides they want to change a behavior. The book can be used by an individual who wants to manage his or her change, or as an accoutrement to ongoing therapy. Unlike many self-help texts, again, drawing from psychological research, in Living Smart the authors go beyond the change process and contemplate set-backs. They provide guidance on how to handle tough situations.” — Robert G. Frank, Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost, University of Florida at Gainsville
Reviews
The most helpful chapter is for people who can’t stick to their plan… Checklists and action tips are sprinkled throughout the book… People who truly have motivational problems might be inspired after answering questions… Through “Living SMART,” change could be habit-forming.
— The Birmingham News