Motivational Interviewing In Healthcare Institutions
Knowing the significance of motivational interviewing in healthcare settings, as well as its applications and potential benefits, is important for promoting healthy habits. It is also helpful in eradicating practices that can be harmful to health.
In this regard, this article mentions in the RET (Spanish link) how motivational interviewing is important to bring about behavioral change. This is because it facilitates interpersonal relationships and helps resolve ambivalence.
The process of motivational interviewing in health contexts
This is a strategy or tool to encourage and promote changes in certain behaviors that may be harmful. It is especially relevant during adolescence, as many of the period’s health problems are often related to how they behave.
In this regard, and contrary to what we might assume, some research, such as this one published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 2017, shows that it is more effective in those who are not inclined or motivated to change than to those who have already decided to do so.
So much has been written about health-promoting strategies to bring about behavioral changes. In fact, the use of incentives is one of these proposals.
Is it a strategy or a communication style?
According to a report published in Gaceta Medica, “ practitioners who chose motivational interviewing achieved a greater health benefit for their patients than those who continued with conventional counseling .” However, definitions vary widely, including outdated and imprecise interpretations.
So what is motivational interviewing?
According to research conducted by Miller and Rollnick in their book Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, they describe the following about motivational interviewing:
Thus, according to the same authors of the book mentioned above, the qualities of motivational interviewing in healthcare settings include the following:
- An accompanying communication style that considers the importance of listening carefully, providing information and making recommendations.
- It should enable people to adapt certain behaviors and become more resilient. It is also based in a respectful way that facilitates the natural processes of change and the development of autonomy.
- It also reflects the existence of a certain ambivalence about the possibility of making a change which, while beneficial in the medium term, people cannot always imagine as feasible.
Some Technique Considerations
It is important for the professional implementing it to develop open questions. The kind they might also ask during a job interview, for example. This, in turn, should allow for the exploration of people’s experiences, perspectives and ideas.
At the same time, the basis for reflections is listening attentively and trying to understand what someone is saying. You can achieve this by iterating, restating, or providing a deeper understanding of those trying to communicate. The latter is a fundamental skill of motivational interviewing. Especially how we express empathy, a rather relevant ingredient.
As for motivational interviewing in the healthcare context…
It is essential to know the meaning, scope, logic and method of motivational interviewing. Whether this is the only alternative or the best alternative should identify every professional dealing with young people.
Finally, it is also important that those who adopt or want to implement it base their actions on the best available evidence on the subject. As we described above.
