People need to change their behavior to stop COVID. How to make

Consider obesity. Everyone knows what they need to do. “But that knowledge doesn’t prevent the epidemic of obesity,” says Professor Anna Peters, director of the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University. “Knowledge alone is not enough.”

As a result, scientists trying to fix the crisis of obesity are less focused on teaching people what to do. Their new tools are subtle but powerful. Experts say they can and should be used with COVID-19.

People do wrong things for a very wide range of reasons. Behavioral change experts cite more than a dozen: they don’t know the rules, they don’t accept the rules, they don’t respect the law in general, and they have the opportunity to violate it.

To make a huge number of people change, you need to attack many locations at once.

What is important is that people I want change.

“Most people don’t like being pushed away, says Professor Lomboland, deputy director of the Center for Behavior Change in Melbourne.

“Almost always you have to make emotional changes to change someone’s behavior.”

Governments need to amplify examples of people doing the right thing and promote a message about why they should follow the rules. Not only to protect yourself, but also to protect friends and family.

Japanese team test That idea. They intend to give people one of two messages: don’t spread or don’t Become a spreader, With the idea that appealing to an individual’s identity as a responsible member of the community will hit more homes. In Norway, politiciansVoluntary work”, A word that describes joint action at the community level.

Some political leaders have accused young people of the spread of the virus. People between the ages of 20 and 29 have the highest rates of infection, but the majority of deaths are those over 70, presumably immortal.

But the evidence is not clear. According to the survey, young people Very worried I often feel about the virus and its impact because their work and research are affected.

Dr. Megan Lim, Deputy Director of the Burnet Institute’s Behavior and Risk Programme, said the number of people in their 20s may be increasing because they are more likely to work in jobs exposed to viruses (hospitality, retail). I argue.

Anyway, criticizing young people will not work. Guilt and shame Ineffective motiveFor many young people. Instead, Dr. Lim said, “While admitting that young people are making different sacrifices, they are accustomed to going out many times a week,” while increasing the number of young people doing the right thing It should be transformed.

But as obesity researchers have discovered, just doing the right thing is not enough. Professor Peters says.

“The changes that they want must fit into the reality of their lives.

“For example, you say you should eat healthier food. And people agree,” yes-but I’m really busy, I’m low-income, and easy and affordable. The thing is to go through the drive through.”

To combat this, public health teams now aim to change the system, not the individual. They are fighting to get rid of sweet drinks from school canteens and vending machines, promoting a more walkable city and running a sugar tax campaign.

What are the major systemic barriers that prevent people from being isolated when they have COVID-19? While waiting for test results, the same thing to stop staying at home and encourage geriatric workers to take shifts in multiple nursing homes: unable to earn income.

The state government is taking steps to address this, including supplying people $300 while waiting for test results. But they need to go further by deploying Full pandemic leave – Even Peter, a casual employee, says.

Without that financial safety net, Professor Peters says, “you ask people to make impossible decisions.”