L. Alison Phillips

I study the processes by which individuals develop and maintain health-related habits, particularly medication adherence and regular physical activity. These processes include belief/attitude formation, experience that a behavior has expected results, intrinsic motivation and self-identification with the behavior, and stable context cues for the behavior.

I study populations with chronic illness but also young adults, for whom prevention of chronic illness is key. I also study provider communication strategies for promoting optimal adherence to medical advice, primarily focusing on eliciting and addressing patients' beliefs about their treatment(s) and their treatment-related habits.

I am developing technology-based strategies for promoting wide-scale participation in evidence-based health programs, with an emphasis on improving patient-provider communication and healthy-habit development.