Abstract
BackgroundThis study was conducted to examine the lifestyle behaviors and health promoting practices of physicians, nurses, and community health workers in Brazil.MethodsA random sample of primary health care units in Brazil was selected, and a pretested questionnaire was administered via phone interviews, in 2011, to 182 physicians, 347 nurses, and 269 community health workers, totaling 798 health professionals. The total initial sample included 1600 eligible health professionals. Variables measured included physical activity, alcohol intake, hours of sleep, diet, and perceived self-efficacy to provide preventive counseling on related lifestyle behaviors.ResultsMore than 25 % of physicians, nurses, and community health workers reported eating 0–2 portions of fruits and vegetables per day. In terms of cervical and breast cancer, nurses reported to be ‘very prepared’ to advise patients on these topics more frequently than physicians. The prevalence of smoking ranged from 4.9 % among nurses to 7.4 % among community health workers. The proportion of physical inactivity ranged from 40.3 % among nurses to 52.1 % among community health workers.ConclusionA reasonably high proportion of physicians, nurses, and community health workers report not engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors that impact chronic diseases, thus, they may be less likely to encourage such behaviors in their patients.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3778-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
This study was conducted to examine the lifestyle behaviors and health promoting practices of physicians, nurses, and community health workers in Brazil
The results of this study suggest that continuing education workshops and inter-professional learning (IPL) may help increase the percentage of physicians, nurses, and community health workers (CHWs) in Brazil who feel prepared to counsel their patients [34]
There is scant information about evidence-based approaches targeting health professionals, such as physicians, nurses, and CHWs, advising them to engage in health promoting behaviors in Brazil
Summary
This study was conducted to examine the lifestyle behaviors and health promoting practices of physicians, nurses, and community health workers in Brazil. Physicians, nurses, and community health workers (CHWs) in Brazil are responsible for managing a plethora of patient health conditions by providing appropriate health promoting recommendations. There is one comprehensive literature review conducted in Africa which focused on the personal physical inactivity and the patient counseling practices among medical doctors [13]. The review targeted individual participation in physical activity and readiness to improve personal health. Another aspect focused on the credibility of the doctors’ counseling and whether they can disclose personal health practices to patients. It indicated that physicians’ knowledge on designing an exercise program with the recommended frequencies affected their ability to counsel patients on physical activity [14]
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