DEVELOPMENT OF A BEHAVIOR CHANGE COUNSELLING TRAINING PROGRAM FOR PHYSICIANS USING AN INTEGRATED KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION APPROACH

摘要

Background: Poor health behaviors (e.g., smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity) are major risk factors for non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs). Studies show that "advice-giving" approaches traditionally employed by specialist physicians are not effective for behavior change. Training in behavior change counselling (BCC) skills may help physicians better manage behavioral risk factors. However, training programs assessed in trials to date have been heterogeneous in terms of content, dose and structure, and less than 30% of skills taught were formally assessed. Objective: This study aims to develop a BCC training program for specialist physicians using an integrated knowledge translation approach that will be later tested in an adaptive randomized controlled trial. Methods: Using a Modified Delphi Process, 46 behavior change experts from around the world (67% North America, 28% Europe, 4% other) completed 3 rounds of online surveys to determine what attitudes and skills should be included in a BCC training program targeting specialist physicians. Results: The first 2 Rounds of the Delphi Process allowed to identify 23 BCC skills/attitudes rated as being important for supporting health behavior change. Round 3 identified 17 skills/attitudes as being "moderately or highly" important for behavior change, of which: empathy, active listening, acceptance/respect, as well as avoiding displaying hostility and being judgemental, were highly endorsed by more than 75% of respondents. Conclusion: The final round of surveys is in progress and will identify the 10 highest ranked attitudes and skills, which will culminate in a consensus meeting of experts to determine the final training program curriculum.