Porcelain Publishing / JNH / Volume 2 / Issue 2 / DOI: 10.47297/ppijnh2026020205
ARTICLE

Research Progress on Implementation Intentions for Health Behaviors in Patients

Xiaoyan Li1 Linzhou Xie1 Qi Qin2 Yinglan Li1,3,4 Xinyu Feng5 Lingyun Tian6,7,8*
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1 School of Nursing, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830017, Xinjiang, China
2 School of Nursing, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu 233030, Anhui, China
3 Teaching and Research Section of Clinical Nursing, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
4 National Clinical Research Center of Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
5 School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
6 Department of Health Management Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, Anhui, China
7 Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, Anhui, China
8 Institute of Public Health Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, Anhui, China
Published: 30 June 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Abstract

Patients often experience a strong desire to change their health behaviors but struggle to translate it into consistent action. This gap negatively affects disease prognosis and recovery, with increased readmission risk and medical costs. This review summarizes recent advances in the theoretical foundations, commonly used assessment instruments, and influencing factors of implementation intentions for health behaviors among patients. By analyzing existing evidence, this review aims to provide healthcare professionals with a scientific basis for investigating implementation intentions for health behaviors and delivering tailored interventions that ultimately facilitate the adoption of health behaviors among patients.

Keywords
Health behaviors
Implementation intentions
Patients
Literature review
Funding
This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation Youth Fund Project (Grant Nos. 72304261), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2025M782290).
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Journal of Nursing Humanities, Electronic ISSN: 2978-4867 Print ISSN: 2978-4859, Published by Porcelain Publishing