Hospital doctors and health promotion: support for teaching behaviour change

Abstract

This article describes the development in the West Midlands Region of an educational pack for junior hospital doctors on the principles and practice of health promotion. It has been designed to encourage young doctors to apply research-based strategies for behaviour change within their own work and to provide informed support to the work of other professionals who have more time to spend with patients. The process of development was informed by a research study of cardiologists' understanding of health promotion and by pilot work with a variety of hospital specialties. The educational pack focuses on those aspects of health promotion work of most relevance to junior doctors.It uses the'Cycle of Change'model developed by Prochaska & DiClemente, to help patients (and doctors) change their behaviour. It can be used either independently, or as material to support interactive teaching and learning sessions. It is thus designed to integrate with the new learner-centred, interactive learning movement in medical education.