TY - JOUR
T1 - Attitudes of healthcare professionals towards discussing lifestyle in routine clinical practice
AU - LOFIT-consortium
AU - van Dijk, Marlinde L
AU - Driessen, Anouk
AU - Jelsma, Judith G M
AU - Marks-Vieveen, Jenny
AU - Westerveld, Sanne
AU - van den Akker-Scheek, Inge
AU - Boerboom, Alexander L
AU - de Bruijne, Martine
AU - Dekker, Rienk
AU - de Joode, Anoek
AU - Kievit, Arthur
AU - van Mechelen, Willem
AU - van Nassau, Femke
AU - Serné, Erik
AU - van der Veen, Hugo C
AU - Vrijsen, Joyce
N1 - Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2026/1
Y1 - 2026/1
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Despite the well-documented benefits of a healthy lifestyle for many patients, discussing lifestyle is currently not a structural part of routine clinical practice in hospital care. The aim of this study was to gain insight in the attitudes of healthcare professionals (HCPs) towards discussing lifestyle in their routine clinical practice, and explore differences between various types of HCPs.METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals (i.e. doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals (AHP)) from different departments (i.e. cardiology, gastrointestinal medicine, gynaecology, hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery, internal medicine, neurology, orthopaedics) in two university medical centers in the Netherlands. Interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed using a hybrid inductive-deductive analysis with Atlas.ti and MaxQDA. An existing framework by Van Aalderen et al. was utilized to explore attitudes, focusing on cognitive beliefs, affective states, and perceived control.RESULTS: The domain of cognitive beliefs had four distinguishing beliefs regarding perceived relevance (i.e. beliefs about: 1) relevance; 2) responsibility; 3) consequences; and 4) referral options), three sub-themes regarding perceived patient beliefs (i.e. patient motivation; patient capability; and patient opportunities) and one sub-theme regarding perceived difficulty. For the domain affective states the two themes were: enjoyment and anxiety. The domain of perceived control had two themes: self-efficacy and context dependency, which had three sub-themes (i.e. time, financial reimbursement and institutional policy). Overall, doctors seem more ambivalent in their attitudes than nurses and allied health professionals.CONCLUSIONS: A relatively large and diverse sample of healthcare professionals provided insight into health care professional's attitudes towards discussing lifestyle with patients during routine consultations. Research is needed to improve health promotion training for HCPs, patient-professional dynamics, and for implementation in routine clinical practice.PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: HCPs need greater self-efficacy, support, and clear policies to integrate lifestyle discussions into routine care, requiring collaboration between educators, managers, and organizations.
AB - OBJECTIVES: Despite the well-documented benefits of a healthy lifestyle for many patients, discussing lifestyle is currently not a structural part of routine clinical practice in hospital care. The aim of this study was to gain insight in the attitudes of healthcare professionals (HCPs) towards discussing lifestyle in their routine clinical practice, and explore differences between various types of HCPs.METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals (i.e. doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals (AHP)) from different departments (i.e. cardiology, gastrointestinal medicine, gynaecology, hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery, internal medicine, neurology, orthopaedics) in two university medical centers in the Netherlands. Interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed using a hybrid inductive-deductive analysis with Atlas.ti and MaxQDA. An existing framework by Van Aalderen et al. was utilized to explore attitudes, focusing on cognitive beliefs, affective states, and perceived control.RESULTS: The domain of cognitive beliefs had four distinguishing beliefs regarding perceived relevance (i.e. beliefs about: 1) relevance; 2) responsibility; 3) consequences; and 4) referral options), three sub-themes regarding perceived patient beliefs (i.e. patient motivation; patient capability; and patient opportunities) and one sub-theme regarding perceived difficulty. For the domain affective states the two themes were: enjoyment and anxiety. The domain of perceived control had two themes: self-efficacy and context dependency, which had three sub-themes (i.e. time, financial reimbursement and institutional policy). Overall, doctors seem more ambivalent in their attitudes than nurses and allied health professionals.CONCLUSIONS: A relatively large and diverse sample of healthcare professionals provided insight into health care professional's attitudes towards discussing lifestyle with patients during routine consultations. Research is needed to improve health promotion training for HCPs, patient-professional dynamics, and for implementation in routine clinical practice.PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: HCPs need greater self-efficacy, support, and clear policies to integrate lifestyle discussions into routine care, requiring collaboration between educators, managers, and organizations.
U2 - 10.1016/j.pec.2025.109400
DO - 10.1016/j.pec.2025.109400
M3 - Article
C2 - 41205236
SN - 0738-3991
VL - 142
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
M1 - 109400
ER -