MOTIVATOR

Training healthcare professionals in motivational communication

Patients are sometimes resistant when physicians and healthcare professionals ask them to change their habits or comply with prescriptions, because their recommendations feel prescriptive and heavy-handed. Motivational communication is a proven approach to help professionals speak with patients and avoid this resistance. The problem: few validated training programs exist for professionals to help them learn this approach and implement it into their practice.

LATECE Domain

Connected health

LATECE Values

  • Transdisciplinarity
  • Accessibility
  • Citizen services
  • Knowledge transfer

Nature of the project

Design, validation and development of an online training program

Challenge

Conversations between health professionals and patients about health behaviour change are sometimes unfruitful. This is a major challenge since adopting healthy behaviours (quitting tobacco, improving diet, increasing physical activity, taking medication, etc.) can help prevent and manage chronic diseases, such as heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer, which are costly for patients and their loved ones, and also for the healthcare system

The Motivational Communication (MC) approach is highly customizable and person-centred and designed to support people when adopting changes in their health behaviours. It is a proven approach for a number of behaviours, such as tobacco use, weight management, and physical activity. However, there are very few validated training programs available to help train healthcare professionals in this approach.

Solution

The MOTIVATOR training program aims to offer an evidence-based communication framework, adapted specifically for healthcare, and provide motivational communication training to healthcare professionals.

The project’s goals are to optimize the program’s pedagogical effectiveness and ensure it is relevant, feasible, and applicable in real clinical contexts, namely through the deployment of a new tool (the MC-CAT) that evaluates physicians and health professionals’ motivational communication competencies.

Target audiences

  • Healthcare system
  • Physicians and healthcare professionals
  • Patients

Video

Start up

2016

Planned end point

2030

Status

  • Pilot phase
  • Proof of concept phase for the training module
  • Validation of the competency assessment tool

Leader

Kim Lavoie, PhD

Other LATECE members

Simon Bacon, PhD

UQAM student contributors

  • Salima Belhouari, psychology, PhD candidate
  • Noémie Tremblay, psychology, PhD candidate
  • Brigitte Voisard, psychology, PhD candidate

Collaborators

  • Tavis Campbell, PhD (University of Calgary)
  • Kim Corace, PhD (University of Ottawa)
  • Jean Diodati, PhD (Université de Montréal)
  • Gary Garber, PhD (University of Ottawa, Canadian Medical Protective Association)
  • William Ghali, PhD (University of Calgary)
  • Doreen Rabi, PhD (University of Calgary)
  • Codie Rouleau, PhD (University of Calgary)
  • Maria Sedeno, PhD (McGill University)
  • Serge Sultan, PhD (Université de Montréal)
  • Michael Vallis, PhD (Dalhousie University)

Keywords

Motivational communication; health behaviours; lifestyle change; physician and healthcare professional training; chronic disease prevention

Partners and Funding

  • Centre intégré universitaire de santé et services sociaux (CIUSSS) du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
  • Centre intégré de santé et services sociaux (CISSS) de Lanaudière
  • Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec
  • Canadian Thoracic Society
  • Student scholarship funding
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Medicine

Funding received

$350K

Website

Visit the MC-CAT website

Logos

Publications