Table 2.

CVD patient education programme for people with RA.

Week	Topic	Theoretical model/concept	Activity and behavioural techniques employed
1	Introduction
	Current beliefs about CVD	Common Sense Model	Group discussion
	CVD and RA; CVD risk factors	Common Sense Model	Information giving, group discussion
	Reaction to learning about CVD	Common Sense Model	Encouraging coping rather than avoidance techniques
	Lifestyle modifications	Common Sense Model	Concept of personal responsibility for health
			Self-management
			Patient example
2	Risk factors for CVD	Common Sense Model	Calculating personal risk for CVD, including a BMI calculation
	Consideration of which CVD lifestyle risk factor is most appropriate for them to modify	Theory of Planned Behaviour	Importance, intention, perceived behavioural control over CVD lifestyle factors [46]
		Stages of Change	Readiness to change lifestyle risk factors for CVD
			Motivational interviewing [39]
3	Identification of CVD risk factor to be modified	Stages of Change	Target goal identified in writing for each participant
	Graded goal setting	Stages of Change	Identification of first goal, using modelling by other participants, examples from relevant health professionals, setting SMARTS goals [47] and identification of relevant organisations
4	Review	Stages of Change	Comparison of performance against initial goal set
	Graded goal setting	Stages of Change	Further SMARTS goals [47] including rewards and contingency plan to cope with setbacks
5–7	Graded goal setting and weekly review	Stages of Change	Skills mastery [42]
			Regular practice
			Practicing positive health behaviours
			Self-monitoring
			Self-management [19]
8	Review of progress	Theory of Planned Behaviour	Comparing intention and perceived behavioural control for lifestyle modifications against week 2 scores [46]
	The future	Stages of Change	Identification of which cognitive behavioural techniques they have found most helpful personally

BMI = body mass index.