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Clinician’s Guide for Assessment and Counseling of Physical Activity,
Nutrition, & Tobacco
User Guide – Action Plan for Clinician and Office Staff
The Clinician’s Guide for Assessment and Counseling of Physical
Activity, Nutrition, & Tobacco is an efficient, standardized protocol
to assess, counsel, and prescribe healthy lifestyle behaviors for patients.
The Guide was developed by The University of Texas at Austin for the Texas
Department of State Health Services. It addresses three health behaviors
(physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use) that have been linked
to the prevention and control of chronic diseases. All client-related
educational materials are provided in both English and Spanish.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: It is important to underscore the
fact that the majority of patients, regardless of risk factors, can and
should be encouraged to start or continue a program of regular, moderate
physical activity. All individuals should accumulate 30 minutes of moderate
level activity most days of the week.
NUTRITION: Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption
to at least 5 or more servings every day can be an important component
in chronic disease risk reduction.
SMOKING: All smokers should be encouraged to quit. If
a patient uses tobacco within 30 minutes of rising in the morning and/or
had difficulty quitting for more than three days, chances are he/she is
addicted to nicotine and a good candidate for nicotine replacement or
other pharmacotherapy.
The order listed below corresponds to how you may use these guides in
your practice.
STEP 1: Administer Client Assessment Form when the client arrives
at the office. Have client complete the assessment form assessing
his/her current physical activity level, nutrition habits, and tobacco
use.
STEP 2: Use the Clinician Counseling Guide and the Client Assessment
Form together to assess the client’s readiness for change. Depending
on the client’s answer choices, he/she will fall into one of three
stages of change.
- If the client falls into the Precontemplation stage, he/she may realize
that a change is indicated but is not willing to consider altering his/her
health behavior. As a result, the goal should be to encourage patients
to at least consider making a positive health behavior change in the
near future.
- If the client falls into the Contemplation stage, he/she is aware
that he/she needs to change behavior and is at least thinking about
it. The challenge may be that he/she does not have the skills, knowledge,
or incentive to change. As a result, the goals should be to help the
client make a specific plan for changing behavior and to support that
change.
- If the client falls into the Action stage, he/she already is taking
steps to change behavior. The challenge is sticking with it. As a result,
individuals in this stage need continued support for their behavior
change. As a result, the goal is to support the client in continuing
the behavior change.
STEP 3: Counsel the client about one of the health behaviors
using the appropriate stage-based counseling. Print the stage-based
educational sheet that corresponds to the client’s diagnosed stage
of change. Make sure you print all Precontemplation sheets on RED paper;
all Contemplation sheets on YELLOW paper; and all Action sheets on GREEN
paper. These colors provide a useful means for you to remember the client’s
stage and the goal of the intervention.
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Educational Materials below are PDF
files. Click here for viewing information. |
STEP 4: Provide the client with a healthy prescription for his/her
behavior change.
Last Updated February 21, 2006 |