KEYWORDS educational strategies; health behaviour change; lifestyle-related conditions; physical therapists Abstract Epidemiological data support an increasing prevalence of lifestyle-related conditions globally. As established healthcare professionals, physical therapists are well positioned to be clinically competent in patient education to effect long-term lifestyle behaviour change, to improve health and physical therapy outcomes. A scoping systematic review was conducted to identify educational strategies used by physical therapists and their attributes to prevent, reverse and manage lifestyle-related conditions. Stringent search strategies of related databases and research mining identified eight source studies. Heterogeneity of the studies disallowed pooling of the results and meta-analysis. Attributes of commonly-reported educational strategies included: theories (e.g., transtheoretical model and 5A's approach); timing (e.g., pre-and post-assessments and follow-up); session structure (e.g., brief advice, one-on-one, group and telephone); technique (e.g., motivational prompts, individualised programmes and goal-setting); and delivery method (e.g., brochures, diaries, audiovisual or video, handouts and skills demonstrations). Educational strategies related to lifestyle-related conditions used by physical therapists and their attributes vary. Observational studies need to confirm these findings clinically. Also, the cost-effectiveness of the education strategies used by Hong Kong Physiotherapy Journal (2012) 30, 57e75 physical therapists and their attributes need to be evaluated. Such knowledge will enable physical therapists to effectively address lifestyle-related conditions as a health priority in patients, irrespective of their primary presenting problems.

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