How can health educators use MI to promote healthy behaviors?

1 What is MI?

MI is based on four core principles: expressing empathy, supporting self-efficacy, rolling with resistance, and developing discrepancy. These principles guide the health educator to create a collaborative and respectful relationship with the client, to elicit and reinforce the client's own reasons and goals for change, to avoid arguing or confronting the client's reluctance or doubts, and to help the client see the gap between their current behavior and their desired outcome. MI also involves specific skills, such as open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries, that help the health educator listen and respond effectively to the client's statements.

3 How to use MI for health education?

The basic steps of using MI for health education are: engaging the client, focusing on a specific behavior, evoking the client's motivation, and planning for action. Engaging the client involves building rapport and trust, and establishing the purpose and goals of the session. Focusing on a specific behavior involves choosing a target behavior that is relevant, important, and feasible for the client, and agreeing on a shared agenda. Evoking the client's motivation involves exploring the pros and cons of the current and desired behavior, eliciting the client's reasons and values for change, and strengthening their commitment and confidence. Planning for action involves developing a realistic and personalized plan that includes specific steps, strategies, and supports for the client to implement and sustain their change.

4 How to adapt MI for different populations and contexts?

MI is a flexible and adaptable approach that can be modified to suit different populations and contexts. Some of the factors that can influence how MI is applied are: the client's culture, language, age, gender, health literacy, and social determinants of health; the setting, duration, frequency, and format of the sessions; and the availability of other resources and services. Health educators can adapt MI by using culturally appropriate and respectful language, examples, and metaphors; by adjusting the level and type of information and feedback they provide; by incorporating the client's family, community, and spirituality; by using technology, such as phone, text, or online platforms; and by collaborating with other professionals or agencies.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?