UF program to change risky behaviors could save taxpayer dollars
By Cathy Keen
November 16, 2009
Tech-savvy young people will receive a prescription for healthier living before they actually see the doctor, says a University of Florida professor whose team is developing a laptop program for use in the waiting room.
The program designed for adults between 18 and 24 presents positive images and messages about wellness at the touch of a fingertip, said Chad Werch, director of the Addictive and Health Behaviors Research Institute in UF’s Department of Health Education and Behavior.
Images such as a slim and fit young person will be part of the tutorials that encourage participants to exercise, eat healthy, manage stress wisely, stop smoking, practice safe sex and avoid abusing alcohol and prescription drugs, Werch said.
“Not only are these high-risk behaviors a major cause of illness, injury and death, but they cost billions of dollars,” he said. “If we’re able to control them, it can mean a tremendous savings for the state and nation.”
The public health program, being developed with a two-year $926,607 federal stimulus grant, aims to change many bad habits at the same time, but not by resorting to the lecture method or browbeating young people with dire warnings about dangerous lifestyles, he said.
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