Lifestyle advice in UK Primary Care consultations: Doctors’ use of conditional forms of advice

Connabeer, Kathrina (2021) Lifestyle advice in UK Primary Care consultations: Doctors’ use of conditional forms of advice. Patient Education and Counseling. ISSN 0738-3991

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Abstract

Objective: To investigate how doctors deliver lifestyle advice to patients in ordinary general practice consultations.
Method: A secondary analysis of audio/video recorded primary care consultations between doctors and patients. Instances of lifestyle related talk were identified and analysed according to the methods of Conversation Analysis.
Results: The most frequently used format for delivering advice was found to be if-conditional forms. Conditional forms work to convey how advice is relevant to the individual’s health circumstances 1) topicalising the problematic risk to the patient, 2) informing and warning the patient of reoccurring or future health risks, and 3) offering changes in lifestyle in addition to or as a replacement for medication.
Conclusion: The results show that doctors use if-conditional constructions to navigate anticipated or actual difficulties evidenced through misalignment in delivering lifestyle advice, by conveying the importance of the advice to the individual patient.
Practice Implications: Using if-conditional constructions when talking with patients regarding their problematic risk factors provides a technique enabling doctors to navigate the sensitivities associated with giving advice, whilst delivering personalised and preventative medicine.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.pec.2021.03.033
Dates:	Date Event 25 March 2021 Accepted 31 March 2021 Published Online
Subjects:	CAH01 - medicine and dentistry > CAH01-01 - medicine and dentistry > CAH01-01-01 - medical sciences (non-specific) CAH04 - psychology > CAH04-01 - psychology > CAH04-01-01 - psychology (non-specific)
Divisions:	Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > College of Psychology
Depositing User:	Kathrina Connabeer
Date Deposited:	10 May 2021 15:42
Last Modified:	11 Jun 2024 13:03
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/11621