The role of physicians in promoting health

With better control of fewer than 10 risk factors, such as poor diet, inadequate exercise, the use of tobacco and drugs, and the abuse of alcohol, people in the US could prevent 40%-70% of all premature deaths. More than 1/3 of acute disabilities and over 2/3 of chronic disabilities are preventable...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health Affairs 1990, Vol.9 (2), p.122-132
Main Author: Lawrence, R S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior modification
Cancer
Childrens health
Chronic illnesses
Counseling
Diffusion of Innovation
Disabilities
Disability
Disease prevention
Drinking water
Education, Medical, Continuing
Efficacy
Exercise
Food contamination
Food contamination & poisoning
Food safety
Health behavior
Health care
Health education
Health promotion
Health Promotion - organization & administration
Health services
Humans
Hypertension
Immunization
Improvements
Inspection
Mammography
Medical personnel
Medicine
Mortality
Motivation
Patients
Physical fitness
Physician's Role
Physicians
Positive feedback
Practice Management, Medical
Premature mortality
Preventive medicine
Public health
Reimbursement Mechanisms
Risk factors
Role
Roles
Scientists
Sewage
Sewer systems
Side effects
Smoking
Smoking cessation
Task forces
Turn of the century
United States
Vaccines
Wastes
Weight
Workers
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:With better control of fewer than 10 risk factors, such as poor diet, inadequate exercise, the use of tobacco and drugs, and the abuse of alcohol, people in the US could prevent 40%-70% of all premature deaths. More than 1/3 of acute disabilities and over 2/3 of chronic disabilities are preventable by improving risky behavior. The challenge for physicians is to pay more attention to helping patients adopt healthy behavior. However, barriers to diffusion of health promotion recommendations exist in medical practice, including the disease orientation of clinicians, reimbursement policies, and a lack of physician confidence in the ability to motivate behavioral change in patients. Success in implementing health promotion as a priority requires sustained positive behavior change on the part of physicians and patients. The most successful strategies use multiple interventions that include education, practice audit and feedback, and reminder systems. Enabling factors include competence to perform preventive services and sufficient time in the schedule for health promotion.
ISSN:0278-2715
1544-5208
DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.9.2.122