TY - JOUR T1 - Using Action Plans to Help Primary Care Patients Adopt Healthy Behaviors: A Descriptive Study JF - The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine JO - J Am Board Fam Med SP - 224 LP - 231 DO - 10.3122/jabfm.19.3.224 VL - 19 IS - 3 AU - Margaret Handley AU - Kate MacGregor AU - Dean Schillinger AU - Claire Sharifi AU - Sharon Wong AU - Thomas Bodenheimer Y1 - 2006/05/01 UR - http://www.jabfm.org/content/19/3/224.abstract N2 - Purpose: An action plan is an agreement between clinician and patient that the patient will make a specific behavior change. The goals of this study are to: determine whether it is feasible for patients to make action plans in the primary care visit; determine whether patients report carrying out their action plans; and describe the action plans patients choose.Methods: Forty-three clinicians in 8 primary care sites were recruited to hold action-plan discussions with patients. Research assistants contacted patients by telephone 3 weeks later to assess whether patients had conducted their action plans.Results: Eighty-three percent of enrolled patients (228) made an action plan during a primary care visit. Of the 79% who recalled making the action plan when interviewed by telephone 3 weeks later, 56% recalled the details of their action plan, and an additional 33% recalled the general nature of the action plan. At least 53% of patients making an action plan reported making a behavior change consistent with that action plan.Conclusions: Most patients reported making a behavior change based on an action plan, suggesting that action plans may be a useful strategy to encourage behavior change for patients seen in primary care. ER -