Motivational Interviewing: Helping Patients Make Lifestyle Changes

Course overview

Chronic conditions- particularly heart disease, stroke, diabetes, lung disease, obesity, and arthritis- are creating a significant burden on our healthcare system, and the problem continues to increase. Healthcare professionals witness firsthand the impact on patients' quality of life and also see how hard it is for people to make changes in their day-to-day health. Instructing patients what to do, how to eat, why they should get more exercise, and how to manage stress better does not tend to lead to positive behavior changes. Newer ways of working with patients are showing better results. Motivational interviewing is a style of patient counseling that helps resolve a person's ambivalence about changing his or her habits. The counselor helps the patient explore personal motivators and helps the client identify his or her own goals. When each member of an interprofessional team practices from this point of view, the results can be positive.