Factors determining the motivation of primary health care professionals to implement and continue the 'Beweegkuur' lifestyle intervention programme.

Aim: To examine factors explaining motivation among health care professionals to implement and continue a multidisciplinary primary care-based lifestyle intervention, called BeweegKuur, to support prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Methods: Questionnaire research with two measurements among Dutch general practitioners, practice nurses and physiotherapists participating in a pilot study. At baseline, professionals were generally preparing to start the implementation. At second measurement, all practices were implementing BeweegKuur.
Results: The results reveal a positive motivation among professionals to implement and continue the intervention. The motivation of practice nurses to continue implementation was lower compared with other professionals. Social support by colleagues, compatibility and perceived relative advantage of the intervention for the professionals were associates of the baseline motivation to implement it. High-baseline self-efficacy and profession (i.e. not being practice nurse) positively predicted the motivation to continue the intervention at second measurement.
Conclusions: Professionals in our study can be characterized as innovators or early adopters, and inclusion of BeweegKuur in the basic health insurance package may persuade other adoption categories to implement the intervention. An intensified focus on skills building (e.g. motivational interviewing skills, general lifestyle counselling skills) is expected to contribute to sustained high-quality implementation of the intervention.
(© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)