Associate Professor
Paul.Cook@ucdenver.edu
Dr. Cook studies problems in health-behavior change, such as medication adherence, self-management of chronic diseases, and HIV prevention. He brings to this research his background in clinical psychology and training as a psychotherapist, which has made him particularly interested in theories of change (which may be distinct from theories about why people have problems in the first place). Dr. Cook’s primary research focus is on implementing psychologically based behavior-change techniques in health-care settings to help patients self-manage chronic conditions. He is currently the primary investigator in studies of psychological techniques to improve treatment adherence and methods for training health-care providers to implement behavior-change techniques, and he has published empirical and theoretical work on behavior-change techniques. Prior to his appointment at UCD, Dr. Cook served as Director of Research and Development for ScriptAssist Medication Adherence Programs and also as Corporate Quality Improvement Director for several specialty managed care organizations, including behavioral health, disease management, and nurse triage.