Motivational Interviewing: A High-Yield Interactive Session for Medical Trainees and Professionals to Help Tobacco Users Quit

Motivational Interviewing: Addressing Interest Among Health Professions Students

Background and Objectives

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a patient-centered approach to behavior change counseling that is used among health professionals across multiple disciplines. However, MI training has yet to be broadly offered to health professional (HP) students. This study aimed to evaluate student interest in MI and the efficacy of an MI workshop to assess whether MI training should be incorporated into HP curricula.

Methods

We conducted a needs assessment to evaluate HP student interest in learning MI. We then hosted a 6.5-hour MI workshop, followed by optional standardized patient encounters (SPEs). SPE performance was evaluated with a scored competency assessment.

Results

Needs assessment respondents (N=93) were predominantly medical students (53%), of which 49% were interested in primary care-related fields. Most (58%) reported receiving 0 to 2 hours of MI training in their required curricula, yet 87% intended to use MI and were interested in receiving training. Nineteen students attended the MI workshop. Postworkshop knowledge assessment (N=11) improved by an average of 34% (premean [±SD], 41% [±12]; postmean [±SD], 75% [±10]; P<.001). The SPE mean competency score (5.09) surpassed the threshold for competence of 5.

Conclusions

HP students reported receiving minimal MI training in their curricula despite being highly interested in MI. Interested students responded to our interdisciplinary MI workshop and SPEs with high satisfaction, suggesting that HP schools may benefit from incorporating MI into their curricula. Nevertheless, response rates were low, and selection bias may have skewed responses toward more favorable perceptions of MI.

Barriers and Motivators for Smoking Cessation Among Caregivers of Inpatient Pediatric Patients

OBJECTIVE

To examine perceived barriers and motivators for smoking cessation among caregivers of inpatient pediatric patients.

METHODS

From December 2014 to June 2018, trained tobacco counselors conducted motivational interviews (MI) with caregivers of inpatient pediatric patients ages 0 to 17, who participated in the intervention arm of a smoking cessation randomized controlled trial. By using NVivo 12 software, the first MI session with each caregiver was evaluated by 3 individuals to identify and categorize motivators and barriers; agreement among reviewers was reached. Barriers and motivators were examined in bivariable analysis with χ2 or Fisher's exact tests for categorical factors and with t-tests for continuous factors by using SAS 9.4 software.

RESULTS

Of the 124 caregivers randomized to intervention, 99 subjects (80%) completed ≥1 MI sessions. The most prevalent barriers to cessation were stress (57%) and social influence (37%).The most prevalent motivators were desire to lead a healthy life (54%) and desire to improve the child and family's well-being (47%). Older parent age was associated with wanting to lead a healthy life, and younger child age was associated with wanting to improve the child and family's well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding barriers and motivators to cessation among caregivers is crucial in reducing pediatric secondhand smoke (SHS). When developing caregiver cessation programs in an inpatient clinic encounter, caregiver barriers and motivators may help in targeting education and strategies to help counselors and clinicians better identify and support caregivers who wish to quit smoking.

Pediatric Resident Training in Tobacco Control and the Electronic Health Record

Given the dangers posed by tobacco use and tobacco smoke exposure, pediatricians should address tobacco use and exposure with patients and parents at every opportunity, but this is not consistently done in practice. One reason may be that many medical residents do not receive education on how to address tobacco use and tobacco smoke exposure with patients and their parents. In a 2012 survey of U.S. pediatric program directors, 65% of programs reported covering tobacco control in their curricula, but most training programs focused on tobacco's health effects and not intervention strategies for clinical practice. Since that survey, electronic health records have been implemented broadly nationwide and utilized to address tobacco smoke exposure. Investigators surveyed U.S. program directors in 2018 and residents in 2019 to explore the ways in which the residents learn about tobacco use and tobacco smoke exposure, components and use of the electronic record specific to tobacco use and tobacco smoke exposure, and perceived resident effectiveness in this area. All the program directors and 85% of the residents valued training, but 21% of the residents reported receiving none. Moreover, a minority of the residents assessed themselves as effective at counseling parents (19%) or adolescents (23%), and their perceived effectiveness was related to small group learning and active learning workshops, modalities that were infrequently implemented in training. Respondents also reported infrequent use of electronic health record prompts regarding tobacco and the absence of prompts about critical issues (e.g., addressing tobacco smoke exposure in vehicles or other settings or offering treatment or referrals to parents who smoke). This paper provides recommendations about augmenting pediatric resident training in simple ways.

Motivational Interviewing Training: A Case-Based Curriculum for Preclinical Medical Students

Introduction

With the rise of chronic medical problems involving lifestyle behaviors and the benefits of patient involvement in preventative care, medical students need to learn how to help patients change health risk behaviors and improve patient involvement in order to improve health outcomes. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a patient-centered therapeutic approach that is effective in the treatment of lifestyle behaviors and diseases.

Methods

This 2-hour didactic training session, along with a 3-hour case-based practice session involving role-plays and a 3-hour evaluated session utilizing standardized patients, was delivered to 68 preclinical medical students. Knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy were evaluated via pre- and posttraining surveys, and satisfaction with the training was assessed upon completion.

Results

Students who completed both pre- and postsurveys (n = 48) showed a statistically significant improvement in knowledge of MI (t = -29.73, df = 47, p < .001), attitudes regarding implementing MI in health care settings (t = -3.04, df = 47, p < .005), and self-efficacy (t = -10.699, df = 47, p < .001) in talking with patients about behavior change. Students were also highly satisfied with the MI training package (M of 4.4, SD = 0.6, out of 5.0).

Discussion

A training package to teach preclinical medical students about MI was effective in helping students learn the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver MI in a broad range of clinical cases.