Abstract
Although primary care is an ideal setting in which to address behavioral influences on health, clinicians spend little time discussing preventive care, including lifestyle counseling. There is a dearth of comprehensive training and evidence-based resources to educate clinicians in how to effectively engage with patients about these topics. This study describes and evaluates the acceptability of Change that Matters: Promoting Healthy Behaviors, a ten-module curriculum to train clinicians in brief, evidence-based interventions. Each module includes three parts: interactive patient handouts, didactic training, and electronic health record templates to guide the discussion and after visit summary. A two-part, mixed-methods pilot study was used to evaluate the acceptability of the curriculum in a family medicine residency clinic. In Study 1, external family medicine faculty experts (N = 11) provided written feedback on the patient handouts. In Study 2, 20 residents and 20 patients completed qualitative interviews regarding their experience with curricular materials. Content analysis was used to extract qualitative themes. Experts rated the patient handouts as highly understandable and actionable. Resident themes indicated that the curriculum provided concrete tools to address health behavior change, helped structure patient discussions, and increased confidence. Patients felt empowered to make behavior changes. This new curriculum addresses a gap in existing resources, and is available for free download online which can facilitate dissemination (https://changethatmatters.umn.edu/). Research has found the curriculum to be acceptable to experts, residents, and patients. Future studies need to explore its impact on the behavior of both clinicians and patients.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Kathryn Justesen, MD, Jean Moon, PharmD, BCACP, and Anne Doering, MD for their contributions to the development of curricular materials.
Funding
This study was funded by the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center Seed Grant and the National Center for Integrated Behavioral Health (Health Resources and Services Administration [HRSA] Cooperative Agreement UH1HP33881).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were conducted by MJAU. Data analyses were performed by SAH, MDS, KAL, and MJAU. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SAH and MDS, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The project was reviewed by the University of Minnesota’s Institutional Review Board (STUDY00006986) and deemed “not human research” as defined by DHHS and FDA regulations. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.
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Hooker, S.A., Sherman, M.D., Loth, K.A. et al. Change that Matters: A Health Behavior Change and Behavioral Health Curriculum for Primary Care. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 29, 773–784 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-021-09836-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-021-09836-7