Motivational interviewing for adherence problems in cystic fibrosis; evaluation of training healthcare professionals

Motivational interviewing (MI) offers effective strategies for enhancing behaviour change and is particularly useful for patients who exhibit poor adherence. This study evaluated MI training for cystic fibrosis (CF) teams, which comprised of one 4-hour workshop on MI principles, followed 6 months later by another on applying MI during brief consultations.

Health professionals (N = 60) from 7 teams completed questionnaires on learning outcomes 6 months after the first workshop, but before the second. Eleven participated in telephone-interview, 3 months after the second workshop.

Quantitative analysis showed all participants used MI with a patient at least once after the first workshop and felt the approach was potentially helpful. Although self-appraisal of skill and confidence in MI was 'moderate', all felt confident in their ability to develop their skills and almost all intended to use MI in the future. Qualitative analysis confirmed the positive experiences of training and of using MI in practice, particularly in relationship building. However MI was utilised depending on team support and workload pressures.

This study showed that initial MI training with CF team-members resulted in increased knowledge and confidence about acquiring and applying MI techniques. However, this was balanced with consideration of barriers to application, further training needs and ongoing team-based support.