Key factors in health counselling in the consultation

To design an effective course in behaviour influence all GPs and general nurses at two health care centres were interviewed concerning procedure and perceived barriers to prevention. The results demonstrated that most doctors and nurses regarded health counselling as important in medical health service. They also maintained that they have time and space for this activity. However, most doctors and nurses were hesitant and/or disappointed concerning their perceived efficacy in affecting people's life habits. The explanation may be that the personnel lack an effective methodology to handle these issues. Few had a more developed educational theory where the starting-point was the patient. Another explanation may be that many doctors and nurses had a non-patient-centred style, which previous studies demonstrate to be less successful in affecting people's behaviour. This was expressed in the notion that the doctor/nurse has to be a model from which the patient can learn the 'right' life habits. It was also expressed in the notion that the reasons why patients do not change behaviour were mostly psychological, but no importance was attached to the role of different values. The results point out the need for education in patient-centred pedagogics.