HEALTH PROMOTION AND OLDER-PEOPLE - A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS VIEWS

Objectives: To explore general practitioners' (GPs') beliefs about hea lth promotion for older people and attitudes towards educational strat egies likely to improve practice in this area. Design and setting: Fou r discussion groups, each lasting one and a half hours, completed in M elbourne, Australia in August and September 1995. Interviews were tran scribed verbatim and analysed for major themes. Participants: A conven ience sample of 20 GPs took part; 11 university affiliates, four parti cipant contacts and five GPs from telephone book listings. Results: GP s' perceptions of their health promotion practice varied from ''integr ated into all medical care'', to ''something separate from usual pract ice''. Positive views of older people contrasted with ageist views, wi th a few GPs expressing a nihilistic approach to medical care of older people. Regardless of the GPs' attitudes, lack of time and reimbursem ent disincentives were perceived to limit preventive practice and the potential impact of health promotion interventions. GPs felt overwhelm ed with their workloads, and initial reactions to the idea of any ''ne w'' program were negative. Reactions to educational strategies varied, with choice and relevance to ease of practice being important for GP participation. Conclusions: GPs differ in their views of health promot ion and in their approaches to its delivery for older people. Educatio nal programs are often viewed negatively, but if they offer the opport unity to save time, increased participation may be more likely.