Exploring behaviours

We all have a keen interest in promoting healthy behaviours. First, because how we behave is vital for our health and well-being. Second, because when more people are physically active, vaccinate, protect themselves from infections, follow their treatment plan or stop smoking, it removes some of the pressure from health systems and national economies.

In the past it was assumed that people behave in healthy ways if they have the necessary knowledge and motivation. Today we know that many other factors play a role, for example, social norms, the cultural context, access to the health system or how health workers interact with their patients. Health behaviours are complex.

Understanding which factors prevent or drive health behaviours is at the heart of applying behavioural and cultural insights (BCI) to health. WHO/Europe works together with public health authorities to conduct research and engage with the people affected in their local context. The insights we gain from this work are used to develop interventions that support and enable healthy behaviours.

Another important element of BCI is evaluation. Once interventions have been designed, we help to pilot test them and measure if they have the desired effect. We use robust methods to explore what works best, where, for whom and why.