C3 Barriers and obstacles to following recommendations GapFill

When attempting to implement health and wellbeing improvement plans, individuals may face a number of obstacles. These are factors that are personal to the individual and block them from making  misjudgementsprogressdecisionserrors, or make it more difficult for that person to move forward with their health and wellbeing.

Emotional and psychological obstacles
How we feel and think about ourselves and our plans will influence how likely we are to carry them out. If someone feels a lack of  supportblood pressurestressmotivation, they are unlikely to feel a sense of drive, energy and enthusiasm to improve their health and wellbeing.  Self-importanceSupportMotivationSelf-esteem relates to feelings of self-worth, self-assuredness and confidence, but some individuals might feel that they are not worth the effort involved in making positive changes and improving themselves. An individual may also accept their current state as it is, and might be in denial about the need to improve anything about their health and wellbeing.

Time constraints
Many people have  a lack of supportfriendsfamily supportfamily commitments, meaning they have a lot of responsibilities towards their loved ones. For example, lots of individuals are  barrierscarersneighboursnurses for other relatives (for example, their elderly parents or disabled children), which can involve lots of time, stress and fatigue.  Family commitmentsPsychological obstaclesWork commitmentsFinancial limitations can also make it hard to carry out plans, particularly for those people who work long or night shifts, or who have an inconsistent shift pattern.

Availability of resources
This means whether or not people have adequate  financialsocialphysiologicalenvironmental or physical (e.g. equipment) resources to carry out the actions recommended by their health and wellbeing plans. For example, the cost of healthy, nutritious food and a gym membership could make it harder for an individual to lose weight.

Unachievable targets
Targets set by someone’s plan could be unachievable for them as an individual, or in terms of  timescalefamily membersplanningmotivation. Targets which are too ambitious can put an unreasonable amount of pressure on someone, and can set them up to fail. Unachievable targets can also cause an individual to become  demotivatedmore confidentcomplacenta smoker.

Lack of support
Friends and family might be unsupportive, failing to encourage someone to stick to the targets of their plan. This could involve offering an individual cigarettes, discouraging them from exercise, or via peer pressure to consume alcohol and/or drugs.

Sometimes, the lack of support from family and friends may be  geneticencouragingunintentionalpositive. For example, they may behave in an unsupportive way because they do not want to admit that they might also need to make some changes to their behaviour.