**6.1 Goal setting for health**

Goal setting is regarded as an essential intervention for patients intending to change behaviors [44]. Healthcare providers particularly at primary healthcare facilities should help patients visualize the does and do not for the successful attainment of their health goals [44]. In doing so, they must work together with patients in designing health goals and eliminating barriers to adopting a healthy lifestyle. Identification of barriers will enable development of possible solutions and ultimately in achieving improved clinical outcomes. The healthcare providers can use "SMART' acronym goal setting strategy to encourage patients to realize their goal setting; the acronym stands for [44]:

**Specific:** Encourage patients to get as specific as possible about their goals. For instance, if patients want to lose weight, he/she must indicate how much weight he/she wants to lose.

**Measurable:** Ensure that the goal set is measurable. For example, exercise for 30 minutes, 3 days a week.

**Attainable:** Make sure patients' goals are feasible; for example, the patients wanting to exercise daily but working far from home can be encouraged to wake up early for exercise or late after coming from work.

**Relevant:** Ensure that the goal is relevant to the patient. Why does the person want to make this change? How will this change improve his or her life?

**Timely:** Help patients define a specific timeline for the goal. When do they want to reach their goal? When will you follow-up with them? For instance, helping patients set a goal to lose 10 kilograms (kg) in the next month may feel less overwhelming than a goal of losing 5 kg in the next year.
