Abstract
Objective: Situations with potential to motivate positive change in unhealthy behavior have been called 'teachable moments'. Little is known about how they occur in the primary care setting. Methods: Cross-sectional observational design. Audio-recordings collected during 811 physician-patient interactions for 28 physicians and their adult patients were analyzed using conversation analysis. Results: Teachable moments were observed in 9.8% of the cases, and share three features: (1) the presence of a concern that is salient to the patient that is either obviously relevant to an unhealthy behavior, or through conversation comes to be seen as relevant; (2) a link that is made between the patient's salient concern and a health behavior that attempts to motivate the patient toward change; and (3) a patient response indicating a willingness to discuss and commit to behavior change. Additionally, we describe phenomena related to, but not teachable moments, including teachable moment attempts, missed opportunities, and health behavior advice. Conclusions: Success of the teachable moment rests on the physician's ability to identify and explore the salience of patient concerns and recognize opportunities to link them with unhealthy behaviors. Practice implications: The skills necessary for accomplishing teachable moments are well within the grasp of primary care physicians.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | e8-e15 |
| Journal | Patient Education and Counseling |
| Volume | 85 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2011 |
Keywords
- Health behavior change
- Health behavior counseling
- Prevention
- Primary care
- Smoking
- Weight management
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine