I conducted behavioral research related to substance abuse for many years, and became familiar with a construct called the Stages of Change Model, developed by Prochaska and DiClemente. This model posits that individuals may move through five stages as they undertake health behavior change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Clinical and research efforts using this model often strive to identify someone’s stage, and work to encourage movement to the next stage. For example, someone who uses drugs heavily may not initially be thinking about reducing or stopping drug use (is in pre-contemplation). However, if this person goes to a counselor to discuss problems at work, the sessions may reveal that drug use plays a significant role in the individual’s job problems, and the counselor may encourage the person to consider reducing (or stopping) their drug use (in other words, move to contemplation). Subsequently, the client may begin to prepare for making changes (through planning and discussion) and then to undertake actions to reduce use. The next, sometimes final, step involves the client being able to maintain the lowered drug use or abstinence behaviors. Although there is a logical order to these stages, it has been recognized that movement is not unidirectional, and individuals may return to earlier stages during their change process.
I think that these stages of change also apply to adapting to the changing stages of the process of aging.
I was in pre-contemplation about aging for many years before actually accepting that I was officially an older person. I didn’t retire until my 70s, and my life after retirement became busy with many new activities and social events. It took about a year and I was in contemplation about how to manage this new stage of my life. I’m not sure exactly when that happened—but the combination of my chronological age, acceptance of senior citizen discounts, graying hair, and enjoying my membership in the senior network in my apartment complex— all played a role. I began thinking about what my aging meant. And that brought me to the preparation stage. Now that I had fewer externally imposed deadlines and responsibilities, and the motivation and ability to choose what I wanted to do, what did I want my life to be? I knew I wanted to write more, so I joined a writer’s workshop; my desire to explore the city’s sites and see family and friends more often meant I needed to make specific plans and schedule dates and activities. Once I had the general plan outlined it was easy to move to the action stage.Yes, there are some weeks that I am not as active as I’d planned to be, and I go back to contemplation where I might revise some of my plans. I soon move again to preparation and then get back to action.
I now consider myself to be in maintenance. I make time most weeks to read, write, see friends, and visit something new. And these activities are rewarding and reinforcing. And I believe the Stages of Change Model will be helpful in the future. The life stage I am in now will change in the coming years. My level of energy may substantially decline, there may be limits on my mobility, family responsibilities may emerge, or I may even need to have some dependence on others – and I am in precontemplation about all of these. But I hope to use the Stages of Change Model to modify my roles as my stages change, and to reach desirable maintenance levels for each new stage.
Reflections on Aging 