Improving self-efficacy for Latinos through goal setting at a community health center

Chronic disease continues to cost the United States billions of dollars a year, with Latinos being disproportionately affected because of various obstacles and issues. Efforts focused on interventions to assist patients to self-manage are integral to decrease these health disparities. Goal setting implemented by staff nurses during routine primary care visits was used to investigate whether self-efficacy and selfrated health scores would improve among Spanish-speaking participants (N = 184). Although not statistically significant, the intervention group did experience a greater increase in mean self-efficacy scores than the usual care group. Self-efficacy is an important factor in any health promotion activity geared toward behavior change. Providing patients with goal-setting experience will assist them in gaining mastery experience, which is an essential way to improve self-efficacy. Future research should include ongoing training of the nurses during the implementation and evaluation of instrumentation used specific to Latino populations.