Practical strategies for motivating diabetes-related behaviour change

Patients with diabetes mellitus are often required to make significant lifestyle changes for effective diabetes care. The ability to increase a patient's intrinsic motivation to make these changes is explored in this manuscript. Since change begins with the health professional's interpersonal style (consultant vs. authoritarian), this is proposed as the starting point for successful behaviour change consulting. Communication skills are described, such as asking permission, active listening, and the use of open-ended questions to elicit a patient's own arguments for change. Other practical strategies (e.g. negotiating the agenda and assessing readiness) for fostering sustained changes in a patient's self-management behaviours are outlined.