• Deborah Helitzer, Arlana Bobo Peterson, Janice Thompson, and Shannon Fluder.
• Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
• Health Promot Pract. 2008 Oct 1; 9 (4): 404-14.

AbstractThe benefits of utilizing and measuring application of theory for behavior change programs are numerous, including the emergence of new theories and theoretically bound strategies. Despite recent attempts to make theory use more salient, there remains a dearth of practical frameworks for the development and evaluation of theory-based programs. Without literature documenting how theories have been specifically applied to interventions and their evaluation, health educators may not be well prepared to utilize theory for the design, implementation, or as a focus of the evaluation. Using a case study example of a diabetes prevention program, this article describes how theory was used for the program design and the evaluation and provides a framework for using theory in other programs. Issues discussed include: the challenges in successfully utilizing theory for intervention development and the processes of developing theoretically based instruments.

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