The Physician's Role in Health Promotion Revisited — A Survey of Primary Care Practitioners

In 1981, a study of the role of primary care physicians concluded that there was a lack of consensus about many of the surgeon general's recommendations for health promotion and that most primary care physicians felt unprepared for this role and unable to change patients' behavior.1,2 In the ensuing 13 years, a number of other studies had similar results.313 Since physicians are in a unique position to influence the behavior of patients, attaining national goals for health promotion requires their enthusiastic agreement and active participation. We sought to examine the extent to which primary care physicians practicing in . . .