Why Open Access Fails in Health
Earlier today, I wrote about why many contrast therapy spaces are underperforming, despite high investment and carefully designed environments.
If you missed it, you can read it here:
Why Most Contrast Therapy Spaces Are Underperforming
Over the past few years, I’ve seen a rapid rise in contrast therapy spaces across the world.
But what I want to explore with you today is something more fundamental.
Because the limitation is not only structural. It is behavioural.
The Assumption That Doesn’t Hold
Across health and wellness, there is a recurring assumption:
If people are given access to something beneficial, they will use it consistently.
This assumption is not supported by behavioural science.
We have known for decades that knowledge and access alone are insufficient to drive sustained behaviour change.
For example, research consistently shows a gap between intention and action — often referred to as the intention–behaviour gap (Sheeran & Webb, 2016).
Even when individuals:
intend to exercise
intend to eat well
intend to follow health advice
they frequently fail to translate those intentions into consistent behaviour.
Why Free-Choice Environments Fail
