Mike, 40, comes to the pharmacy for a prescription for blood pressure lowering medication. You know Mike quite well and he tells you his doctor has told him to watch his diet and alcohol intake. Mike says he feels well, but he seems to be overweight.

Discuss in your team:

• What counselling should you give Mike about his medication?
• How would you talk to Mike about his diet? What questions would you ask?
• What are the most important dietary factors to help lower blood pressure?
• What are the most important lifestyle factors, apart from diet, that can help to lower blood pressure?
• How would you discuss Mike's alcohol intake? How could he estimate how much he drinks, and whether and to what extent he needs to cut down?
• What barriers might prevent Mike from achieving lifelong sustainable dietary change and staying within recommended alcohol limits?