Table 4.
Theme, categories and subcategories that describe the participants ‘experiences of lifestyle counselling
| Theme | Lifestyle counselling – a long-term commitment based on a partnership | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Collaboration should be based on respect and mutual interest | Counselling should facilitate understanding of illness and lifestyle habits | Measurements and goal setting are valuable, but knowledge is required | Long-term support after the end of the lifestyle programme is important | The care unit should support counselling for lifestyle change |
| Subcategories | A good alliance enables a trusting dialogue and an equal partnership | Counselling should provide and/or increase knowledge about lifestyle habits | Measurements increase motivation and clarify the current condition | Recurrent counselling is needed to maintain lifestyle change (P) | Different modes of delivery should be used for counselling |
| Dialogue provides confirmation and exploration of the patient’s need for support | Counselling should provide and/or increase knowledge about illness | Goal setting is important for increasing motivation (P) | It can be burdensome to monitor illness by myself (P) | The lifestyle programme should include a structure for the delivery of counselling (CHN) | |
| Recurrent dialogue motivates change and builds relationships | Counselling should provide/increase knowledge about how lifestyle actions can affect illness | Measurements can be difficult to interpret (P) | Support should focus on maintenance and positive changes (CHN) | Continuous education is needed for health-care professionals to maintain and improve their counselling skills (CHN) | |
| External control by the nurse supports lifestyle changes (P) | Both patients and CHN should be aware that medication can affect motivation (P) | Patients need support to set achievable goals (CHN) | |||
| Treatment goals should be consistent with the guidelines (CHN) | |||||
CHN = subcategories expressed only by nurses, P = subcategories expressed only by patients. Subcategories without (CHN) or (P) refer to experiences of both nurses and patients