CCP Patient Engagement & Behavioral Change Strategies 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A care manager notices a patient nods during education but later cannot recall any instructions. This pattern MOST likely indicates a problem with which factor?
- Patient motivation
- Health literacy (Correct answer)
- Social support deficits
- Disease severity
Correct answer: Health literacy
Inability to recall verbal instructions despite apparent engagement is a classic indicator of low health literacy affecting comprehension.
Question 2: According to the Health Belief Model, perceived barriers are BEST addressed by:
- Increasing disease severity messaging
- Providing cues to action such as reminder calls
- Reducing the perceived cost or difficulty of the recommended behavior (Correct answer)
- Enhancing perceived susceptibility to complications
Correct answer: Reducing the perceived cost or difficulty of the recommended behavior
The Health Belief Model addresses perceived barriers by identifying and reducing the obstacles that prevent health action.
Question 3: Which type of goal-setting approach is associated with the highest likelihood of chronic disease behavior change according to evidence-based practice?
- Broad aspirational goals set by the care team
- SMART goals collaboratively developed with the patient (Correct answer)
- Short-term numeric targets assigned by the physician
- Generalized wellness goals posted on patient portals
Correct answer: SMART goals collaboratively developed with the patient
SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) collaboratively developed with patients are most strongly associated with sustained behavior change.
Question 4: A 68-year-old patient with chronic kidney disease says, 'My friends all eat salty food at our weekly dinners and I don't want to be different.' This statement BEST represents which barrier to self-management?
- Financial barrier to dietary change
- Social norm conflict (Correct answer)
- Lack of disease knowledge
- Denial of illness severity
Correct answer: Social norm conflict
Social norm conflict occurs when a patient's health behaviors clash with group norms, creating social pressure that undermines self-management.
Question 5: When using brief action planning (BAP) with a patient, the care manager should ensure the plan includes which three elements?
- Diagnosis, medication, and follow-up date
- What, when, and how often the patient will perform the behavior (Correct answer)
- Goal, barrier, and escalation protocol
- Assessment, intervention, and outcome measure
Correct answer: What, when, and how often the patient will perform the behavior
Brief Action Planning requires patients to specify what they will do, when they will do it, and how frequently to create an actionable, concrete self-management plan.
Question 6: Which patient response is MOST indicative of 'change talk' in a motivational interviewing session?
- 'My doctor told me I have to exercise more.'
- 'I guess I could try walking three times a week.' (Correct answer)
- 'I don't see how changing my diet will help.'
- 'My family doesn't support any changes I try to make.'
Correct answer: 'I guess I could try walking three times a week.'
Change talk reflects the patient's own desire, ability, reason, or commitment to change, such as expressing possibility ('I could try').
Question 7: A care manager is working with a patient in the contemplation stage of the Transtheoretical Model. Which intervention is MOST appropriate?
- Enroll the patient in an intensive disease management program immediately
- Provide a concrete action plan with weekly check-ins
- Help the patient weigh the pros and cons of behavior change (Correct answer)
- Reinforce the maintenance behaviors the patient has already adopted
Correct answer: Help the patient weigh the pros and cons of behavior change
In the contemplation stage, patients are ambivalent; decisional balance exercises help them explore pros and cons to build motivation.
CCP Patient Engagement & Behavioral Change Strategies 3
A care manager notices a patient nods during education but later cannot recall any instructions.
This pattern MOST likely indicates a problem with which factor?