Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (24)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Steptoe, A.
Right arrow Articles by Hilton, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Steptoe, A.
Right arrow Articles by Hilton, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Family Practice Vol. 16, No. 2, 158-163
© Oxford University Press 1999

Attitudes to cardiovascular health promotion among GPs and practice nurses

Andrew Steptoe, Sheelagh Doherty, Tony Kendricka, Elizabeth Rinka and Sean Hiltona

Department of Psychology and
a Department of General Practice and Primary Care, St George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 0RE, UK.

Background. Cardiovascular health promotion is an important element of national health strategy, but doubts have been raised about current methods, and attitudes among general practice staff are ambivalent.

Objectives. We aimed to assess attitudes to cardiovascular health promotion, opinions about efficacy and perceptions of skills in lifestyle counselling in GPs and nurses from the same practices.

Method. A questionnaire survey of 107 GPs and 58 practice nurses from 19 group practices (100% response rate).

Results. Practice nurses were seen to have the main responsibility for cardiovascular health promotion. Although attitudes to health promotion were generally positive, lack of training in lifestyle counselling was perceived to be a problem. Few responders believed that they were very influential in helping people change their lifestyles. Beliefs about the effectiveness of lifestyle counselling were mixed, with cigarette smoking, physical inactivity and obesity being seen as difficult to change. Beliefs in the effectiveness of lifestyle counselling were associated with positive attitudes towards health promotion and greater confidence in training. No association between personal health behaviour and attitudes towards health promotion were observed.

Conclusions. It is recognized that health promotion involves more than the provision of simple information and advice, but GPs and practice nurses lack confidence in lifestyle counselling skills. The attitudes of health professionals are crucial to the implementation of prevention strategies and require regular review.

Keywords. Attitudes, cardiovascular disease, general practice, health promotion..


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Research in NursingHome page
D. R. Smith and P. A. Leggat
An international review of tobacco smoking research in the nursing profession, 1976-2006
Journal of Research in Nursing, March 1, 2007; 12(2): 165 - 181.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Health Educ BehavHome page
J. Raupach, W. Rogers, A. Magarey, G. Lyons, and L. Kalucy
Advancing Health Promotion in Australian General Practice
Health Educ Behav, June 1, 2001; 28(3): 352 - 367.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 BMJHome page
F D R. Hobbs, G. Frost, C. Doré, G. D. Smith, S. Ebrahim, R. Bennett, A. Steptoe, E. Rink, S. Kerry, T. Kendrick, et al.
Behavioural counselling in general practice about risk of CHD
BMJ, July 1, 2000; 321(7252): 49b - 49.
[Full Text]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.