Applying the Guided Self‐Determination Counselling Method in Primary Healthcare Among People at Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes: A Qualitative Study

TL;DR

This study explores how nurses in primary healthcare use a counseling method to help patients at risk of type 2 diabetes change their health behaviors.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the practical application and challenges of using the Guided Self-Determination counseling method in healthcare settings.

Findings

The GSD method helped nurses promote patient awareness and motivation for health behavior change.

Nurses faced challenges in applying the GSD method during patient consultations.

Patient representatives contributed to the study's design and patient information development.

Abstract

To explore how nurses experienced using the Guided Self‐Determination (GSD) counselling method in primary healthcare for the follow‐up of patients at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

This study had a qualitative design.

We used individual interviews with nurses in Norway (n = 5) and Iceland (n = 6) to collect data. The nurses had prior to this qualitative study participated in a randomised controlled trial, by applying the GSD counselling method in primary healthcare. The data was analysed by using qualitative content analysis.

The findings in this study resulted in the identification of three categories: (1) Promoting change in patient awareness and motivation, (2) Facilitation of health behaviour change, and (3) Challenges in applying the GSD method in patient consultations. The counselling method assisted the nurses to approach patients in a different way and to ask questions that stimulated personal reflection and increased the patients´ health awareness.

Patient representatives contributed in discussing the relevance of the study objectives and justification for undertaking the research, and in the development of adequate written patient information for the study.