Motivating Patients for Self-Management

Which tactics can be used when patients do not follow the advice they are given, or cannot maintain positive health-related behaviours?

Healthcare professionals often try to solve this problem by providing more information or trying to persuade patients to do the right thing, but this is often ineffective. 

Changing your communication style to be more inclusive of patients' values, beliefs and psychological processes can improve relationships with patients, improve their compliance with health advice and improve outcomes.

To support healthcare professionals with these challenges, The Royal Marsden School has developed a three-day course. The course is designed to provide healthcare professionals with specific skills and practical strategies which enable participants to explore psycho-emotional issues with confidence, and promote recommended behavioural change and self-management in patients.

Attendees come from hospitals and community services and include nurses, dietitians and physiotherapists. The course has excellent results, with all of those attending reporting it has helped them to do their job better.

Day one concentrates on improving your ability to empower patients to make positive changes and avoid disempowering communication. 

Day two begins with a facilitated investigation of skills in practice followed by theories of change and communication strategies drawn from motivational interviewing and solution focused therapy. 

The final day begins with troubleshooting challenges that are based on real events, where you will learn strategies for difficult situations when you feel stuck with a patient who seems unwilling to change. You will also learn to facilitate change through goal setting and commitment strategies. 

We are now recruiting for our next course which starts on 31 January 2017.  For more information or to apply please visit the course page.