An evaluation of the Health Action Process Approach human behavioural change model to support the postoperative welfare of cats in Malaysian veterinary practices.

Improving postoperative cat welfare requires targeting self-efficacy, empathy, and action planning in veterinary behavioral interventions.

This study investigated the application of the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) behavioral change model to improve postoperative cat welfare in Malaysian veterinary practices, specifically focusing on the provision of bedding to postoperative cats. A video-based educational intervention was delivered to 150 Malaysian veterinarians, followed by three sequential surveys assessing motivational, pre-action, and action phases of the HAPA framework. Completion rates were low, with only 27 participants (18%) completing all three surveys. At baseline, participants were classified as actors (40.7%), intenders (44.4%), or non-intenders (14.8%). Key findings revealed that non-intenders perceived bedding provision as significantly less beneficial than intenders and actors. Intenders demonstrated reduced recovery ability when intended behaviors were disrupted compared to actors, suggesting a gap in coping self-efficacy. No significant differences were found between actors and intenders at the action phase. The study identified an 'intention-action gap,' highlighting that HAPA theory alone does not fully account for behavior change, with non-conscious factors such as habit and emotion playing important roles. Action planning, self-efficacy, empathy, and self-monitoring emerged as critical factors for sustaining target behaviors in the pre-action and action phases. The authors recommend that future welfare improvement interventions in Malaysian veterinary practices prioritize these psychological constructs. While HAPA provided a useful framework for understanding staged behavior change, its limitations in bridging pre-action to action phases suggest the need for supplementary behavioral models addressing habitual and emotional drivers of clinical practice.

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