Glossary
Behavioral practice/rehearsal
What is behavioral practice/rehearsal?
Behavioral practice, also called behavioral rehearsal, means prompting practice of a target behavior when performing it is not otherwise necessary, with the aim of developing skill or habit.
How it works
The defining feature of BCT 8.1 is doing the action for practice, when it is not otherwise needed. Reading instructions and watching a demonstration are different from performing the action yourself. Practice gives you a chance to try the steps and identify difficulties before they matter in the real situation.
Applied example
In a supervised training example, a patient uses a practice pen and an orange to rehearse movements involved in an injection before a real self-injection. The example illustrates rehearsal; the training method still needs to fit the clinical task.
Why it matters
Knowing what to do is different from being able to do it. Check later performance rather than assuming that feeling more confident means the person can perform the task. Practice can target a small component of a complex task without making the whole activity automatic.