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Health promotion: physicians' beliefs, attitudes, and practices.
C M Valente1, J Sobal, H L Muncie
1Center for Health Education, Inc., Baltimore, MD 21201.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
|March 1, 1986
Summary
Physicians believe in health promotion and patient behavior modification but struggle with effectiveness. With support, their success in influencing patient health behaviors could increase significantly.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Public Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Limited research exists on physicians' health promotion beliefs and practices.
- Physicians play a crucial role in guiding patients toward healthier lifestyles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the health-promotion beliefs, attitudes, and practices of primary care physicians.
- To identify barriers and facilitators to physicians' effectiveness in promoting patient behavior change.
Main Methods:
- A survey was administered to 1,040 primary care physicians.
- Data collected included self-reported beliefs, attitudes, practices, and perceived success in patient behavior modification.
Main Results:
- 97% of physicians believed they should modify patient behaviors to minimize risk factors.
- Despite believing in the importance of health behaviors and feeling prepared to counsel, only 3-18% reported high success in facilitating patient behavioral change.
- Physicians indicated a potential six-fold increase in success with adequate support.
Conclusions:
- Physicians possess strong beliefs and interest in health promotion and continuing education.
- There is a clear need for enhanced skills and support systems to improve physician effectiveness in guiding patient health behavior modification.
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