BMJ  2005;331:961-963 (22 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7522.961

Education and debate

Consultations about changing behaviour

¹ Department of General Practice, Centre for Health Sciences Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, ² National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry (King's College London), London SE5 8AF, ³ University of Michigan, Health Behavior and Health Education School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA

Persuading patients to change behaviour that is damaging their health can be difficult. Changing the style of consultation could improve the experience for doctors and patients

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

Health threatening behaviours are the commonest cause of premature illness and death in the developed world, affecting the sustainability of our health services and society.¹ Almost every healthcare worker interacting with almost every patient has an important opportunity to change health behaviour. Examples include a general practitioner talking to a patient about smoking or exercise, a health visitor engaging a mother about her child's diet, an accident and emergency house officer talking to an injured patient about alcohol, a renal nurse discussing fluid intake, and a dental hygienist discussing flossing. These consultations can be difficult to navigate, however, and practitioners often make a cursory attempt to satisfy external guidelines or end up avoiding the subject altogether. Here, we consider how the flexible use of a guiding style could make health promotion more satisfying and effective.

Skilfulness makes a difference

The challenges of changing health behaviour have parallels in everyday life. For example, the more . . . [Full text of this article]

The process of changing behaviour

Directing or guiding?

Core skills

Directing and behaviour change

Guiding and behaviour change

Everyday practice

Moving forward

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Author rectifies omission: health behaviour change in the developing world

Stephen Rollnick
BMJ 2005 331: 1083. [Extract] [Full Text]

Better decisions

Trish Groves
BMJ 2005 331: 0. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Evidence based guidelines or collectively constructed "mindlines?" Ethnographic study of knowledge management in primary care

John Gabbay and Andrée le May
BMJ 2004 329: 1013. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Genetic risk and behavioural change

Theresa M Marteau and Caryn Lerman
BMJ 2001 322: 1056-1059. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Hughes, A. R., Stewart, L., Chapple, J., McColl, J. H., Donaldson, M. D. C., Kelnar, C. J. H., Zabihollah, M., Ahmed, F., Reilly, J. J. (2008). Randomized, Controlled Trial of a Best-Practice Individualized Behavioral Program for Treatment of Childhood Overweight: Scottish Childhood Overweight Treatment Trial (SCOTT). Pediatrics 121: e539-e546 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Davis, M. M., Gance-Cleveland, B., Hassink, S., Johnson, R., Paradis, G., Resnicow, K. (2007). Recommendations for Prevention of Childhood Obesity. Pediatrics 120: S229-S253 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Csipke, E., Touquet, R., Patel, T., Franklin, J., Brown, A., Holloway, P., Batrick, N., Crawford, M. J (2007). Use of blood alcohol concentration in resuscitation room patients. Emerg. Med. J. 24: 535-538 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Rollnick, S. (2005). Author rectifies omission: health behaviour change in the developing world. BMJ 331: 1083-1083 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

“Changing Behaviour-A Gamble, depends how each clinician play it.”

Ranjit K Dhelaria
bmj.com, 25 Oct 2005 [Full text]

Change something. Make someone better.

Sandip Hindocha
bmj.com, 25 Oct 2005 [Full text]

An omission: health behaviour change in the developing world

Stephen Rollnick
bmj.com, 26 Oct 2005 [Full text]

Changing Behaviour - The CALMER Approach

Chandrakant Madgaonkar
bmj.com, 30 Oct 2005 [Full text]

Motivational facipulation

Ditch Townsend
bmj.com, 12 Nov 2005 [Full text]