[The application of self-efficacy counseling skills to health education in patients with diabetes]

As the incidence of chronic disease increases, empowerment of patients with chronic disease to adopt self-care responsibilities becomes paramount. Self-efficacy is a belief in one's ability to perform a task that will lead to the desired outcome. Utilizing self-efficacy counseling skills is an effective way to enhance patients' compliance with self-care activities. The development of such skills can compensate for the lack of traditional health education provided for diabetes patients and plays a significant part in the prevention of acute and chronic complications. Self-efficacy counseling strategies involve: asking questions; focusing on patient's agenda; planning personal treatment schedules; defining problems; setting goals (taking a step-by-step approach); regular follow-up and contact with patients; scaling questions; brainstorming solutions; considering past efforts, successes and failures; reassessing confidence; and finally checking behavior changes. Self-efficacy counseling skills can be learned through structured training courses in counseling skills. The aims of this report were twofold: (1) to undertake a literature review on self-efficacy and counseling skills used as the theoretical framework in a health education training program for diabetes; (2) to analyze cases when a counseling guide based upon a self-efficacy framework was used by health counselors to help patients improve their self-confidence and self-care ability. This report reveals it is important to promote the application of counseling skills in nursing interventions in the clinical practice field.