Berlin – In a society of longer life, targeted health promotion and prevention are important at every age. The general practitioners’ practices are of particular importance in this context. They often have the first contact with patients and they bring together people of different ages, with different social backgrounds and individual attitudes. A study by the Health Knowledge Foundation and the Institute for General Medicine at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main therefore looked into the possibilities and needs of family doctor practices for more prevention and health promotion.
“In order to strengthen a healthy lifestyle, preventive and health-promoting measures are also important in the living environments,” says PD Dr. Ralf Suhr, Chairman of the Health Knowledge Foundation. Family doctor practices are the first point of contact for most people with health questions and they are a place of trust. “People are reached directly in the family doctor’s practice, regardless of socio-economic differences, such as age or occupation,” Suhr continues. This is where the joint project “Health promotion in general practice” with the Institute for General Medicine at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main comes in: In addition to an overview of the existing research, concrete structures and processes were worked out and possibilities and needs were identified in order to identify appropriate starting points for improved prevention and To find health promotion in the context of family doctor practice. “Together we wanted to find out which topics and formats are best suited to improve patient knowledge about prevention and health promotion from the point of view of experts in healthcare practice,” explains Suhr.
The project “Health promotion in the family doctor’s practice”:
For the field of action analysis, the first step was to review literature on the topic in order to get an overview of existing research, which preventive and health-promoting activities exist in general practitioners’ practices. In a second step, 21 telephone interviews were conducted with general practitioners and medical assistants. Patients were also included.
Doctors see long-term behavior change as a major challenge
Health promotion is an important topic in family doctor practices. The doctors surveyed stated that aspects of prevention or health promotion play a role almost every day in their practice. It is often about possible check-ups, preventive medical check-ups or options to implement a healthy lifestyle with sufficient exercise, less stress or good nutrition. The exchange of information often begins before you even go to the consulting room: medical assistants can determine patient needs and point out existing offers. Nevertheless, the field of action analysis shows that many general practitioners find it challenging to motivate their patients to make sustainable changes in behavior. From the point of view of doctors, many people find it difficult to change their everyday habits in the long term. And that despite health problems. In addition, there is not always enough time in everyday practice to talk to patients about their individual problems, needs and possibilities. The doctors surveyed also see this as a problem, not least because longer consultations are rarely included in general practitioner remuneration.
Communication approaches for preventive topics in everyday practice
In order to inform their patients beyond the conversation, the family doctor’s practices use printed flyers or brochures to support them. For example, the survey as part of the field of action analysis shows that after the personal interviews, printed information materials are used for patients to convey prevention topics in the general practitioner’s practice. Digital offers, such as health apps, are not yet used or recommended to a large extent by general practitioners.
Strengthening prevention and health promotion: Possible starting points
But how could the health of patients be promoted and diseases better prevented overall? The Health Knowledge Foundation and the Institute for General Medicine at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main see points of contact here both in relational prevention and in changing the individual behavior of patients: Since information materials are used a lot in practices, they must contain everyday practical assistance and at the same time be as modern as possible be designed, compact and ad-free. They should also contain concrete and feasible options and suggestions, such as: B. more exercise or a healthy diet is easier to implement. Many people find it difficult to motivate themselves and implement changes over the long term. Structured programs and group offers for prevention and health promotion can help here – because it’s often easier together.
Especially with regard to digital offers, overview information should be better designed and access should be improved. In this way, suitable information can be found more easily and passed on better with little expenditure of time. Training practice teams in how to conduct conversations on the subject of lifestyle changes could also help to better address the possibilities, but also the limitations of patients.
The recent health report “Status symbol health” by the Health Knowledge Foundation also showed that better anchoring of health promotion and prevention is necessary. As part of a representative survey, it became clear that although health is very important to most people, they do not always manage to implement their good intentions for a healthier lifestyle. Insufficient knowledge can be a reason for this. The report showed that many people find it difficult to find health information that helps them. This is especially true for lower social classes. But that’s not all: Even if there is knowledge about the health benefits of certain behaviors, there are sometimes worlds between claim and reality when it comes to prevention. 69 percent of those surveyed consider physical activity to be important – but only 45 percent actually do it in everyday life. “Therefore, mediation approaches in family doctor practices are of particular importance when it comes to questions of prevention and health promotion,” says Suhr.
About the Health Knowledge Foundation: The non-profit, operational health knowledge foundation based in Berlin wants to strengthen the competence of people in Germany with regard to health and prevention and to reduce the information asymmetries between doctor and patient. To this end, it creates, among other things, health information that is understandable for laypeople on the basis of current scientific findings, shows prevention options and treatment alternatives and promotes health knowledge in general. The sponsor is the Association of Private Health Insurance.