Motivational interviewing in health care settings: Opportunities and limitations

Discusses general principles, technical aspects, and critical components of motivation interviewing (MI) and key issues that are likely to arise when adapting MI to health care and public health settings. Time constraints in some settings necessitate brief forms of MI, but brief MI strategies may be strengthened with supplementary print materials or videotapes, computer-delivered interventions, or telephone counseling. Other challenges of adapting MI to health care settings include priority setting for the consultation, especially for individuals with co-morbidities; clients and practitioners with different priorities for change; and therapists who target behavior change in isolation from social context. Important guidelines that balance researchers' and practitioners' needs include familiarity with the population, pilot work with target populations and practitioners, comprehensive process evaluations, and consideration of appropriate outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)