What is Behavior Change Wheel?
The Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) is a comprehensive framework developed by Susan Michie and colleagues for designing behavior change interventions. It places the COM-B model at the center, surrounded by nine intervention functions and seven policy categories.
How it works
The BCW works outward from diagnosis to solution. First, COM-B identifies whether the behavioral barrier is capability (physical or psychological), opportunity (physical or social), or motivation (automatic or reflective). Then the framework maps which of nine intervention functions (education, persuasion, incentivization, coercion, training, restriction, environmental restructuring, modeling, enablement) address that specific barrier. Finally, seven policy categories (communication, guidelines, fiscal, regulation, legislation, environmental planning, service provision) identify how to deliver the intervention at scale.
Applied example
A team trying to increase hand-washing in hospitals uses the BCW to diagnose that doctors already know how (capability) and want to (reflective motivation) but are cued by habit to skip it during rushed ward rounds (automatic motivation + physical opportunity). The framework points to environmental restructuring (placing sanitizer at doorways) plus modeling (visible senior doctors using it) as the matched intervention functions.
Why it matters
The Behavior Change Wheel provides a systematic, evidence-based process for selecting interventions matched to the actual behavioral barrier, preventing the common mistake of defaulting to information campaigns when the barrier is environmental or motivational.
