RHP&EO is the electronic journal of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education

Doctors Attitudes And Beliefs In Health Promotion

Lars Himmelmann

Bohuslandstinget Box 1508 40150 Goteborg Sweden

Doctors attitudes and beliefs in health promotion

One important factor in health promotion and disease prevention is the reorientation of health services. This reorientation demands a change of attitudes and organization of the services. In this process the knowledge and attitudes among the doctors are important.

The roles of doctors have changed considerably during the last century. Before the discovery of many important treatment methods, doctors used preventive methods and counselling to a greater extent. The development of medical knowledge led to an increasing interest in diagnostic and treatment activities at the expense of health promotion.

The reorientation of health services requires a stronger attention to health research and a change in professional education and training. One starting point is the doctors attitudes to the value of prevention and their beliefs in the prospect of success.

In November 1994, the Swedish Medical Association sent out a questionnaire to 8 % (2053) of the organizations members. The response rate was 83 % and the answers were distributed according to the structure of the member stock.

The questionnaire consisted of questions about the value of health promotion, the effect of health counselling to individual patients and to groups of individuals. Finally questions were asked about obstacles for health promotion and disease prevention.

The results show that there is an interest among doctors for disease prevention, but also an interest for health promotion. 27 % of the respondents agree completely and 60 %.partly in the statement that the most important thing a doctor can do to contribute to a persons health is to influence the life-style. Almost half of the doctors wanted more education and training in preventive medicine.

The most important obstacles for doctors to engage themselves more in disease prevention were lack of time and faulty training in preventive methods. More than half of the associations members believe that an important obstacle is the peoples inability to change their behaviours.

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