COM-B at a glance

What is COM-B? Why and how do we use it?

Human behaviour can be incredibly complex. If we want to change behaviour, we need to first understand what drives it in the first place. COM-B provides us with a behavioural change model to do just that. It's a powerful tool to transform behaviour, and it's at the core of our work here at LiveWell Dorset.

What is COM-B?

In COM-B, behaviour (B) is understood as an interaction between three necessary conditions: capability (C), opportunity (O) and motivation (M).

So, let’s break this down:

Capability is the psychological capacity (such as knowledge and understanding) and physical ability (including special skills) to enact a behaviour. This could include the physical ability to cook meals from scratch, or awareness of why certain behaviours are good or bad for us.
Opportunity refers to the physical and social environment that enables a behaviour. This could include city planning conducive to active travel, or a supportive social circle that encourages healthy behaviour (such as Our LiveWell!).
Motivation is made up of the internal mechanisms that set in motion or inhibit a behaviour. This could include the desire to participate in a sport, or the pleasure (emotion) of engaging in a healthy (or indeed unhealthy) activity.
And finally, behaviour is understood as physical action that occurs in the body and is controlled by the brain; it’s anything a person does in response to external or internal cues. The intention to eat more fruit, instead of sweet snacks, is not a behaviour – but the act of eating fruit is.

For a person to engage in a particular behaviour, they must be capable, have the opportunity and be motivated to do it, more so than any competing behaviour at the time.

How do we harness COM-B to transform the lives of your patients?

By understanding the drivers of behaviour – and barriers to healthy living - we can tailor our behavioural support to deliver the most evidence-based interventions.

At LiveWell Dorset, we recognise that people face all sorts of barriers to adopting healthy lifestyle changes. The COM-B model gives us the insight that all barriers fall into the categories of capability, opportunity or motivation. This allows us to draw on evidence linking barriers with suitable interventions, so we can work with our clients to employ behaviour change techniques that are most likely to help them overcome their specific barriers.

The success of our one-on-one services shows us that lifestyle change is possible - and powerful.

Want to help us deliver more inspiring results in Dorset?

Written by Phoebe Nicholson (MPH), a health and wellness content writer.

Sources

How does this work?

The tailored approach LiveWell Dorset uses to come up with solutions to the things that are stopping us achieving our goals, is based upon work done by University College London developing the COM-B model of behaviour change. In this model, all behaviour is influenced by understanding a person’s capability to change, their opportunity to change and their motivation to change. By understanding which of these is the biggest barrier to change, we can tailor support accordingly. This model of behaviour change is at the centre of the support we offer, online and in person.

Your Favourites?

Welcome!

Is this the first time that you've used our services, or have you already registered with us? To allow us to best serve you, please confirm whether you're new to LiveWell Dorset, or if you've spoken to us before and may have an existing account.

Welcome back, it's good to hear from you again!

To speak to one of our dedicated team and get the help you require please request a call back. All call backs from this service are free of charge to both landlines and mobile.

Request a Call Back

Do you provide your consent to share your information with the LiveWell Dorset team – part of Public Health Dorset ?

When you register with LiveWell Dorset, we ask you some questions about you and your health (how much you smoke, how active you are, how much you drink and how much you weigh). We store that information and use it to shape our service offer to you – such as the advice we give or the extra services we connect you to. The only people who will see this information will be those involved in the delivery of the service and management of the data. If you would like to use extra services (such as slimming clubs and pharmacies) we have to share this information with them. For us to be able to put you in touch with these services, we must have your consent to share that information with the service (we’ll ask for that later, when if you sign up for extra services).

Before we can sign you up any further, we need to know:

You're happy for your personal information to be shared with LiveWell Dorset.
You understand what information may be shared and why, and that at times, our contact to you may be supported by technology partners, who have the same data protection standards and safeguards as we do
You acknowledge that you can withdraw your consent at any time by informing LiveWell Dorset.
You understand that if you do not give consent or withdraw consent then it could be difficult for us to connect you some of the services we offer.

If you require any more information to help you make your choice then please contact the LiveWell Dorset team on 0800 840 1628. All telephone conversations at LiveWell Dorset are recorded for quality and training purposes, and stored whilst you are registered as active within the service.

Yes I consent

Sorry we can't continue at the moment

Unfortunately we need your permission to store your personal information to help us to assess the best support we could provide or signpost you to. If at any stage you change your mind and are happy to provide your personal information please come back and visit us again.