What determines plan enactment? Exploring relationships between action plan specificity and enactment among rehabilitation patients

Abstract

Background: Individuals with chronic conditions can benefit from formulating action plans to exercise. However, the self-generated content of action plans is rarely evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the specificity of plans and examine whether rehabilitation patients with highly specific plans were more likely to enact their plans (i.e., cue-dependent behaviour). Methods The study presents secondary analyses of data obtained from a larger trial. We rated the specificity of self-generated exercise plans of 238 rehabilitation patients based on a coding scheme, systematically developed to evaluate plan specificity. A ‘highly specific’ plan (scoring 3 on our 1-3 scale) was defined as a plan that had the potential to trigger the desired behaviour (e.g., If I come home from work on Tuesday at 6pm, then I will go running). An ‘unspecific’ plan (=1) was vague about, or omitted, the situational cue (e.g., ‘Maybe I will go running at the weekend’). Six weeks after rehabilitation, plan enactment was assessed. Regression analyses examined the relationship between specificity and enactment. Findings: On average, participants filled in 2.35 (SD=0.74) complete plans. Eight (3.7%) participants did not fill in any plans. Overall, plans were very specific (M=2.43, SD=0.74). Individuals with more specific plans were more successful in enacting them (ß= .14, p=.04). Discussion: Plan specificity contributes to successful plan enactment. Interventions should emphasize not only the importance of planning, but also the benefits of setting highly specific plans.