Preventive health patient education and counseling: a role for medical assistants?
Collaborative office-based team approaches may provide a unique means to increase the low rates of preventive services delivery. This study aimed to assess what role medical assistants may have in the delivery of preventive services to patients. A 35-item questionnaire was mailed to 402 medical assistants living in Maryland in July 2005. The questionnaire assessed current levels of preventive service delivery, attitudes toward patient education, and willingness to educate patients. A total of 281 surveys were returned for a response rate of 71%. Study findings revealed that a fair amount of preventive services delivery was already being delivered in health care settings by medical assistants. Medical assistants were more likely to discuss diet/nutrition and exercise with patients. Findings also highlight that medical assistants held positive beliefs about educating patients and nearly all respondents (90%) were willing to deliver preventive services. Given the increased presence of medical assistants in the health care setting, it may be feasible to delegate some preventive care delivery to this willing team member. Future research needs to explore how to better incorporate and delegate preventive health care delivery in medical settings.
Stempel School of Public Health, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA. richard.palmer@fiu.edu
Richard C
RC
Palmer
Lynn A
LA
Midgette
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000488:Allied Health Personnel; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000379:methods*