Patients' perspectives of the digital counselling competence of healthcare professionals-A qualitative descriptive study.

What problem did the study address? Healthcare professionals may well need to develop new competencies as counselling is increasingly moving to digital environments. What were the main findings? The main areas of digital counselling competence that emerged from the patients' perspectives were competence in preparing for video-mediated counselling, digital competence, competence in interacting with the patient, competence in supporting self-management and competence in self-development as a digital counsellor. Where and on whom will the research have an impact? The research can be used to build and develop healthcare professionals' digital counselling competence, as well as improve the delivery of patient-centered care.