An interactive course to enhance self-efficacy of family practitioners to treat obesity

Abstract

BackgroundPhysicians' awareness of their important role in defusing the obesity epidemic has increased. However, the number of family practitioners who treat obesity problems continues to be low. Self-efficacy refers to the belief in one's ability to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments. Thus, practitioners who judge themselves incapable of managing obesity do not even try. We hypothesized that practitioners' self-efficacy and motivation would be enhanced as a result of participating in an interactive course designed to enrich their knowledge of obesity management.MethodsTwenty-nine family practitioners participated in the course, which was accompanied by qualitative interviews. The difference between the physicians' pre-course and post-course appraisals was tested by paired t-test. The interviews were analyzed by qualitative methods.ResultsPost-course efficacy appraisals were significantly higher than pre-course appraisals (p < 0.0005). A deeper insight on the practitioners' self-efficacy processes was gained through reflection of the practitioners on their self-efficacy during the interviews.ConclusionsUp-to-date information and workshops where skills, attitudes and social support were addressed were important in making the program effective.

Development and validation of a self-efficacy scale for clinical decision-making in general paediatrics

“…Due to the absence of literature on which to base the GPedsSE item generation, expert opinion was sought. This approach has been used previously in related studies to determine or validate the content of task-specific self-efficacy tools (15,17,18). The principal BaCkGRound: Success in a task is not only related to skill, but it is also related to 'self-efficacy', or belief in one's capability to perform that task.…”

Evaluation of a Primary Care Intervention on Body Mass Index: The Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative

“…There is also a documented lack of provider confidence (or self-efficacy) for addressing obesity in children, as well as addressing lifestyle issues with children and their families. [6][7][8][9][10] Unfortunately, there is very limited evidence for effective clinical interventions to prevent or treat obesity in primary care settings or routinely deliver preventive messages related to healthy nutrition and PA. [11][12][13] One major limitation is the very ''low dose'' of intervention possible because of the limited time parents/guardians and children spend with a primary care provider (PCP).…”

Impact of three alternative consultation training formats on self-efficacy and consultation skills of medical students

“…For instance, studies investigated whether new educational methods have an impact on motivational variables such as self-confidence and self-efficacy. Comparable research is available in the field of clinical and pharmaco-therapeutic skills of final year medical students (Speechley et al 1993;Dubois et al 2007;Chen et al 2008;Paskins & Peile 2010), family practitioners treating obesity (Katz et al 2005), nurses and medical students caring for difficult patients/situations (Harrell et al 1993;McConville & Lane 2006;Brunero & Lamont 2010) and the development of communication skills in nursing education (Kameg et al 2010). Research is scarce examining the effect of alternative educational methods for consultation skills and the impact on medical students' selfefficacy beliefs.…”