The Biopsychosocial Model of

Health and Wellbeing

Assessment 1: Part 1
Personal Behaviour Change Project
Due Friday 11 August @11.59 pm on Moodle

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 New Zealand Certificate in Study and Career Preparation Level 4
BPED 4005 Psychology 4
Assessment 1: Personal Behaviour Change Project
Part 1

Learning Outcomes

2. Explore factors that influence the experience of health and wellbeing in both
personal and pathway contexts, making reference to key biopsychosocial concepts.

Your Personal Behaviour Change Project

takes place over 4 weeks
Start date: Monday 14 August
Finish date: Sunday 10 September

Marking Guide Part 1

Marking Schedule Marks
All sections are completed /10
Responses are thoughtful, fully answer the questions and show evidence of
/20
personal reflection
An appropriate personal behaviour to change is identified /10
The behaviour change goal and objectives are linked, realistic and clearly
/20
based on the four SMART criteria
The Weekly Diary Plan is completed according to the instructions /15
Written in full sentences, proofread and well presented /5
Mark /80
%age /100%
Mark for course grade for Part 1 /10%

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Assignment Due Dates
The submissions for this assignment, which you will complete throughout your 4-week
behaviour change project [Monday 14 August – Sunday 10 September], are due in
three parts:

Due Dates Marks

Part 1: Setting Up Your Behaviour Fri 11 August at 11.59 pm

80 10%
Change Project

Part 2: Assessing Your Behaviour

Change Project Midpoint
Group Discussions Wed 30 August – in class 60 8%
Written Assessment Tues 5 Sept at 11.59 pm

Part 3: Assessing Your Overall Behaviour

Tues 19 Sept at 11.59 pm 60 7%
Change

Total (worth 25% of final course mark) 200 25%

Instructions
 For this assignment, you will choose a personal health risk behaviour you would like
to change and attempt to change it over a period of four weeks.

 Some examples of behaviours that a person may want to change include eating or
exercise habits, alcohol or drug use, tobacco use or exposure. It could also be a
change related to how a person handles their finances or an aspect of their
spirituality.

 The goal of this assignment is to be mindful of how you change a behaviour to

enhance your own personal health and well-being, and relate this to both the
biopsychosocial model of health and wellbeing and other models followed by people
in New Zealand society.

 The assignment should be interesting, fun, challenging, and all about you!

 You will examine your current health habits, identify a behaviour you would like to
change, create a plan to change that behaviour, work on changing the behaviour and
examine your experience of your behaviour change attempt.

 You will spend four weeks working on your behaviour change. You will be graded on
your behaviour change attempt, including your behaviour change plan, your weekly
diaries and your reflections on the experience you have been through in attempting
to change your behaviour. You will not be graded on your success or lack of success.

 Your answers need to fully and thoughtfully address the questions and prompts
provided.
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 BEHAVIOUR CHANGE PROJECT PART 1
Choosing a Personal Behaviour to Change

Assessing Your Personal Health and Wellbeing

1. BIOLOGICAL HEALTH – this dimension is concerned with physical and
physiological status – the way in which the body functions. In other words, a body that is
working well physically and physiologically is a healthy body. This dimension refers to
the mechanistic functioning of the body.

RATE YOUR BIOLOGICAL HEALTH ON A SCALE FROM1-10

Not at all Completely

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
healthy healthy

Discuss all the reasons why you gave yourself this rating – 50-80 words:

2.

PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH – being psychologically healthy is about

recognising and dealing with emotions including anger, stress, joy and being able to
cope with and express emotions appropriately. Psychological factors play a role in how
we experience and react to illness.

RATE YOUR PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH ON A SCALE FROM 1-10

Not at all Completely

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
healthy healthy

Discuss all the reasons why you gave yourself this rating – 50-80 words:

3.

SOCIAL HEALTH – this dimension is concerned with the ability to establish and
maintain relationships with other people, it also incorporates cultural and
environmental influences on experiences related to the occurrence of illness.
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 RATE YOUR SOCIAL HEALTH ON A SCALE FROM 1-10

Not at all Completely

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
healthy healthy

Discuss all the reasons why you gave yourself this rating – 50-80 words:

4. Your Health Behaviours

Percentage that specific risk factors contribute to disability-adjusted life years the number
of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death for all ages and sexes, 2016.

SOURCE: Ministry of Health. 2018. Health and Independence Report 2017. https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/health-
and-independence-report-2017

4.1.Your Lifestyle Risks

Rate how you perceive your Dietary Lifestyle Risk on a scale from 1-10
No Risk High Risk
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Discuss the reasons why you gave yourself this rating?

Rate how you perceive your Tobacco Lifestyle Risk on a scale from 1-10
No Risk High Risk
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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 Discuss the reasons why you gave yourself this rating?

Rate how you perceive your Physical Activity Lifestyle Risk on a scale from 1-10
No Risk High Risk
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Discuss the reasons why you gave yourself this rating?

Rate how you perceive your Alcohol Lifestyle Risk on a scale from 1-10
No Risk High Risk
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Discuss the reasons why you gave yourself this rating?

4.2.Your Personal Wellness Strategies

 What behaviours do you routinely carry out to prevent yourself getting ill, and to
maintain or promote good health?
 These should be behaviours you carry out now, not what you think you should
do.
 List these behaviours in the categories below:

Behaviour which prevents ill health e.g. taking daily vitamins

I take Vitamins in the morning when I can remember to

Behaviour which promotes good health e.g. taking regular exercise

Behaviour that keeps me in good health is going for long walks, if I have to be somewhere
and I have enough time before I’ll try to walk there instead of bussing or taking a car
usually no more than 2 hour walks at a time.

Behaviour which sustains good health e.g. brushing/flossing teeth two times a day
Showering daily or twice if needed, I wash my face daily and brush my teeth twice a day,
don’t floss that often though only when I remember

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 Now make a list of some of your behaviours that you would consider to be “unhealthy”
e.g. smoking; not getting enough leisure or relaxation

Unhealthy patterns I haven’t been getting enough sleep.

Not eating at consistent times messes with when I’m hungry which depending on where I
am at the time causes me to eat unhealthy

Do you hold any inconsistent behaviours? e.g. eating a healthy diet but not taking any
exercise?
The Inconsistent behaviours that I hold are not having regular times to sleep at and
eating a consistently healthy diet.

Can you identify a behaviour that has changed over time, and why did it change e.g. did
you used to smoke, or drink more alcohol than you do now? Have you recently started
exercising regularly?
Behaviour that has changed Reason for change

The amount that I drink alcohol is a lot less I went too crazy on multiple occasions and
now decided that it just wasn’t that worth feeling
that bad for a whole day for just one night of
partying

4.3. Deciding on a Behaviour You would like to Change

The health behaviour I would like to change is:

The reason I would like to change this behaviour is:

Reasons to stay the same Reasons to change

Resistance/Barriers – at least 2 Motivation – at least 2

List the positives of staying the same? List the negatives of staying
– at least 2 the same? – at least 2

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4.4.Commitment to Behaviour Change
 How committed are you to changing this behaviour?

On a scale from 1-10 how important is it to you to change the health

behaviour you have identified in 4.3?
Not Important Very Important
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Discuss the reasons why you gave yourself this rating?

On a scale from 1-10 how confident are you about changing this behaviour

Not Important Very Important

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Discuss the reasons why you gave yourself this rating?

Setting up your behaviour change project

1. Your behaviour change:
a. What is the behaviour you have decided you want to change?

b. Identify how your Dimensions of Wellness – biological, psychological and social –

would be affected for you by changing this behaviour
 Using the biopsychosocial diagram on p. 1 as a guide, place all the factors you
identify in the table below – you should have at least 2 in each section.

Biological Psychological Social

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2. Develop an action plan
a. Identify your goal based on your answer to the question “The health behaviour I
would like to change is:” in Q. 1. a above:

My goal is to: Develop a consistent sleep schedule no later than 11pm

b.

Identify at least three objectives that will help you achieve your goal.
 Objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-
specific – see the article: The SMART Goal Setting Strategy in the Personal
Behaviour Change Project section on the Psychology Moodle page:

How are your objectives specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and/or time-
specific?

Explain, using at least two of the SMART

Identify your 3 objectives
criteria above for each objective.
Objective 1: This is attainable as I can set alarms or
download apps that lock your phone
My first objective is to cut screen depending on the time.
time at least half an hour before
sleeping. This is measurable as I will know if I have
followed the alarms because I will have to
turn them off or disable the apps.

Objective 2: This is realistic because I will be wanting to

do something between when I go to sleep
My second objective is to create a and sleeping so I’ll be motivated by
routine in the time between screen avoiding boredom.
time and sleeping. Like showering
etc This objective is time specific as it’s
between when I put my devices away and
when I must sleep.
Objective 3: This is Realistic because I can remove my
screens from my bedroom easily and if I
need help in order to do so I can always ask
My third objective is to remove my parents for help.

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 screens from my bedroom.
This objective is time specific because I
have to put my devices away before 11pm

c. What resources can help you achieve your objectives and goal?

d.
How will you involve friends or family?

e.

How will you reward yourself for staying on track?

f. If you start to fall off track to achieve your goal, how will you get yourself back on
track?

3. Measuring and evaluating your success for each objective and your overall
goal?
 You will use a weekly diary to plan what you are going to do each day to help meet
your goal and objectives and measure how successful you are.
 At the end of each week, you will evaluate your progress and complete your diary
plan for the following week.
 Each week, if necessary, you will make any changes to your plan that you think will
help you to better succeed in meeting your goal and objectives.
 You will begin the planning for your diary using the template on the next page.

Your Weekly Diary – Preparation

 Using the Diary Template on the next page, begin setting up your diary. [You will
need to complete a diary for each of the 4 weeks but you will be given instructions
about how to do that next week.]
 Fill in your Goal and Objectives from Qs. 2a and 2b. above.
 Complete the Your Action Plan column, by filling in What you intend to do? for each
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 day.
 The activities in the Your Action Plan column must match and, over the week, cover
all three of your objectives.

Personal Behaviour Change Project: Week 1 Diary Plan

Goal To Develop a consistent sleep schedule no later than 11pm

Objective 1 My first objective is to cut screen time at least half an hour before sleeping.
My second objective is to create a routine in the time between screen time and
Objective 2
sleeping. Like showering etc

Objective 3 My third objective is to remove screens from my bedroom.

Day Your Action Plan
Monday What do you intend to do?
5:00pm Set alarms for roughly 10:00pm to remind me to finish what I’m doing
10:00pm alarm goes of and if I’m on my phone or watching something put it down.
10:00pm-11:00pm get ready to go to bed e.g
Tuesday What do you intend to do?

Wednesday What do you intend to do?

Thursday What do you intend to do?

Friday What do you intend to do?

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Saturday What do you intend to do?

Sunday What do you intend to do?

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