Training chiropractic students in weight management counseling using standardized patients

Area of Science:

• Chiropractic Education
• Health Behavior Theory
• Patient Counseling

Background:

• Effective patient counseling is crucial for health outcomes.
• Weight management is an important aspect of holistic patient care.
• Chiropractic training often requires developing patient communication skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and assess a training activity for chiropractic students.
• To evaluate student counseling skills in weight management using standardized patients.
• To determine the utility of this training for future chiropractic practice.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, mixed-methods study involving 102 chiropractic students.
• Training focused on health behavior theory and the transtheoretical model.
• Encounters with standardized patients were assessed via questionnaires and content analysis.

Main Results:

• Students exhibited high performance (over 90%) in counseling encounters.
• A key finding was students' difficulty connecting weight management to low back pain.
• 97% of students found the activity useful and confidence-building for future practice.

Conclusions:

• The experiential activity effectively prepared students for weight management counseling.
• Students gained skills to successfully communicate with patients on weight management.
• Further refinement may focus on integrating weight management with presenting complaints.