Health education strategies used by physical therapists to promote behaviour change in people with lifestyle-related conditions: A systematic review

Epidemiological data support an increasing prevalence of lifestyle-related conditions globally. As established healthcare professionals, physical therapists are well positioned to be clinically competent in patient education to effect long-term lifestyle behaviour change, to improve health and physical therapy outcomes. A scoping systematic review was conducted to identify educational strategies used by physical therapists and their attributes to prevent, reverse and manage lifestyle-related conditions. Stringent search strategies of related databases and research mining identified eight source studies. Heterogeneity of the studies disallowed pooling of the results and meta-analysis. Attributes of commonly-reported educational strategies included: theories (e.g., transtheoretical model and 5A's approach); timing (e.g., pre- and post-assessments and follow-up); session structure (e.g., brief advice, one-on-one, group and telephone); technique (e.g., motivational prompts, individualised programmes and goal-setting); and delivery method (e.g., brochures, diaries, audiovisual or video, handouts and skills demonstrations). Educational strategies related to lifestyle-related conditions used by physical therapists and their attributes vary. Observational studies need to confirm these findings clinically. Also, the cost-effectiveness of the education strategies used by physical therapists and their attributes need to be evaluated. Such knowledge will enable physical therapists to effectively address lifestyle-related conditions as a health priority in patients, irrespective of their primary presenting problems.