OBJECTIVE: Healthcare professionals' competence in health behavior change has lagged behind other clinical competencies despite the well-established relationship between lifestyle behavior and health. We conducted a systematic review to examine whether physical therapists, given their unique practice pattern, can counsel effectively. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were assessed from 1950 to July 2010. Studies were limited to the English, German, and Dutch languages. The methodological quality was evaluated (Downs and Black tool). 16.57 +/- 4.24 points (range low = 0; high = 28) were retrieved. Given considerable methodological heterogeneity, the studies were compared in a narrative synthesis. The target populations, types and periods of interventions, outcome measures, and findings were analyzed. with respect to lifestyle behavior change, at least in the short term. They can be effective health counselors individually or within an interprofessional team. primary twenty-first century clinical competence in physical therapy. Future studies will establish the degree to which effective health counseling augments physical therapy as well as health outcomes, in the long as well as short term.

Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):      help

• DOI
• PubMed
• PDF locator
• publisher

A brief summary and a critical assessment of this review may be available at DARE