On September 20, Patient Engagement HIT reported that providers are using motivational interviewing as a tactic geared toward making patients change health behavior. Motivational interviewing, originally created in the 1980s for providers to guide patients through overcoming drug and alcohol abuse, has now become key in persuading patients to improve health behavior.
“Motivational interviewing is a method for changing the direction of a conversation in order to stimulate the patient’s desire to change and give him or her the confidence to do so,” according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
In contrast to many other change strategies employed by healthcare professionals (such as education, persuasion and scare tactics), motivational interviewing is more focused, goal directed and patient centered.
The driver for motivational interviewing is patient-centeredness. To be successful, the desire and action involving change needs to come from the patient and not the provider. The patient’s personal motivator will be more effective than any statistic or lecture from a clinician. Clinicians should guide patients to create a behavior change plan rather than lay out what needs to be done for them. To access the article and read more, visit Patient Engagement HIT.