title: Unsolicited GP advice against smoking: to give or not to give?
abstract: This article discusses whether general practitioners (GPs) should give unsolicited antismoking advice to patients who smoke. Patient preferences and GP advice-giving are discussed with particular reference to professional roles. It is suggested that giving unsolicited advice against smoking at nearly every encounter is a competitive rather than collaborative behavior. General practitioners should ascertain patients' readiness for change before offering to help produce individualized agreements of joint benefit on change. Three strategies for negotiation--bridging, trading, and logrolling--are discussed.
authors.affiliation: National Primary Care Research and Development Centre, University of Manchester, England.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Buetow
mesh_terms: D003376:Counseling; D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention