Assessment and Intervention for Health Behavior Change in Primary Care Across the Lifespan: A Guide for Residents in...

Description More than 45% of Americans have at least 1 chronic disease, with chronic disease also being a leading cause of death in the United States. In primary care settings, about 75% of visits are for management of multiple chronic diseases. Due to the increasing medical complexity of patients who present to primary care, these numbers make it more challenging for Primary Care Clinicians (PCCs) to manage these conditions alone and point to the need for innovative solutions to chronic disease care. One evidence-based innovation is team-based care to improve the treatment of these conditions. Clinicians such as clinical pharmacists, registered dietitians, behavioral health clinicians, oral health clinicians, and health educators have an important role in primary care to co-manage the patient population, but often, the primary care setting underutilizes these other health care team members. Therefore, if the PCC understands how the psychological and behavioral aspects of health behavior change and chronic disease management fit within a team-based care model, care may improve. Team-based care has been implemented and studied in many ways, but with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education recently necessitating significant behavioral health training and practice opportunities for medical residents in primary care residency training programs, new and innovative approaches to training medical residents in behavioral health are needed to meet the health behavior change needs of their future populations upon graduation. This article provides an overview of health behavior change theories and translates theory into primary care practice within medical education through case examples. Our goal is to provide PCCs in primary care specialties such as Family Medicine, Pediatrics, and Internal Medicine with evidence-based and inventive behavioral treatment approaches to increase their ability to holistically treat chronic conditions in primary care through collaboration with other health care team members as well as train upcoming PCCs in these important practices.