The College of Nursing examined the master’s thesis titled: “University Students’ Readiness to Adopt a Proactive Healthy Lifestyle for Cancer Prevention: The Transtheoretical Model as a Theoretical Framework,” submitted by the graduate student Baqer Saad Atshan, held in the Museum Hall of the college.
The study primarily aimed to determine the readiness level of university students to adopt proactive healthy lifestyle behaviors to prevent cancer according to the stages of change, as well as to identify differences in experiential and behavioral processes of change based on gender and family history of cancer.
Utilizing a descriptive cross-sectional design, the study sampled 417 undergraduate students across nine colleges at the University of Thi-Qar, selected via simple random sampling. The findings revealed that students were distributed across the five stages of change, with the highest proportion situated in the “Maintenance” stage, followed by the “Preparation” stage. Furthermore, statistically significant differences emerged in specific experiential processes of change according to gender, alongside a significant difference in dramatic relief based on family history of cancer.
The researcher recommended designing health interventions grounded in the Transtheoretical Model tailored to students’ readiness stages, alongside adopting multi-component strategies combining health education, social support, and individualized as well as group-based approaches. It also emphasized conducting longitudinal follow-up studies to track students’ progression across the stages of change and reinforce proactive preventive behaviors.
Following an extensive scientific defense, the thesis was approved, and the researcher was awarded a Master’s degree in Community Health Nursing with an Excellence rating.
This study aligns directly with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being) by promoting proactive preventive behaviors and mitigating cancer-related risk factors, Goal 4 (Quality Education) through enriching nursing scholarship with theory-based community health research, and Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by fostering collaborative research initiatives across academic institutions in service of public health.
