Our habits are a river cutting through soft earth, determining when and where we curve into a new direction (if at all). The longer we’ve practiced these habits, the stronger the current and the deeper our path. Healthcare professionals around the world have long understood this principle by educating and encouraging their patients to establish routines and behaviors that ensure their wellbeing. The prevailing question we are often faced with, however, is why it can be so difficult to make healthy choices. If we choose a good river to float down right from the start, can we just go with the flow?
How Habits Work in the Brain
Understanding how our brains develop habits is crucial to answering these questions. Just as we learn to do anything, our brains begin forming habits in response to repetition and reinforcement. This is what we call the ‘habit loop’. We can encourage certain habits by associating a specific cue with a habit we’d like to form, integrating it into our routine, and deriving a reward from said behavior.
Take, for example, tooth brushing habits. Many of us brush our teeth before bed because we’ve associated the cue for bedtime with hygiene. The immediate reward for brushing might be a little minty freshness, but the long-term reward is avoiding pain and disease related to poor dental care. This distinction between immediate and long-term rewards can offer us some insight into why some habits are easier to form than others. Usually when the reward is preventing something negative rather than receiving something positive, our brains have to work harder to form the habit.
We can also take the knowledge we have of this habit loop and apply it to routines that are taught to and established by healthcare professionals.
Applying Habit Science to Healthcare
Those working in healthcare can build better habits by grounding their practices in the evidence provided through peer-reviewed scientific publishing and leaning on insights from the history of science and medicine. For example, consistently sanitizing hands before patient contact is a routine now backed by decades of research and emphasized in published guidelines. Cultivating knowledge of how medical practices evolved—from early antiseptic techniques to modern infection control—supports healthcare workers not only in establishing optimized treatment protocols, but also in understanding why consistency is key to good outcomes. Referencing current literature and peer-reviewed studies as a complement to past research helps professionals reinforce habits that enhance safety and quality of care.
Improving Adherence to Medical Guidelines
Adhering to best practices in medicine such as patient follow-ups and medication reconciliation is essential for ensuring quality care, yet it often breaks down due to human habits, time constraints, or cognitive overload. Despite clear guidelines supported by publications in top medical journals, implementation can be inconsistent. To improve this, healthcare innovations that incorporate artificial intelligence offer promising solutions. AI models powered by machine learning can assist clinicians by flagging missed follow-ups, auto-checking for drug interactions, or suggesting next steps based on patient data. Among strategies to help doctors and nurses stick to protocols with more ease include integrating AI tools into electronic health records, using automated reminders, simplifying checklists, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous learning within clinical teams. Creating a positive feedback loop with these tools is what helps good habits stick.
How Patients Benefit from Habit Science
When healthcare values good habits both in its workers and patients, patients themselves benefit through more consistent and personalized care. However, those needing care often struggle with forming healthy routines like taking medication regularly or following dietary advice, for example. By teaching habit-forming techniques, such as setting reminders, using positive reinforcement, or linking new behaviors to existing routines, healthcare professionals give patients a life-saving skill. By staying informed and drawing insights from scientific books and articles, clinicians can provide evidence-based strategies tailored to individual needs. Empowering patients with these tools not only improves adherence but also leads to better long-term health outcomes. While it may be tempting to just keep floating down the river when life feels good, we understand that informed habits are established by appreciating the value of quality medical publishing and knowing our powerful brains evolve with something as simple as consistency.