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. 2016 Nov;10(6):429-436.
doi: 10.1177/1559827615571524. Epub 2015 Feb 18.

Complementary Tools to Empower and Sustain Behavior Change: Motivational Interviewing and Mindfulness

Stephanie Jean Sohl  1 , Gurjeet Birdee  1 , Roy Elam  1
Affiliations

Complementary Tools to Empower and Sustain Behavior Change: Motivational Interviewing and Mindfulness

Stephanie Jean Sohl et al. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2016 Nov.

Abstract

Improving health behaviors is fundamental to preventing and controlling chronic disease. Healthcare providers who have a patient-centered communication style and appropriate behavioral change tools can empower patients to engage in and sustain healthy behaviors. This review highlights motivational interviewing and mindfulness along with other evidence-based strategies for enhancing patient-centered communication and the behavior change process. Motivational interviewing and mindfulness are especially useful for empowering patients to set self-determined, or autonomous, goals for behavior change. This is important because autonomously motivated behavioral change is more sustainable. Additional strategies such as self-monitoring are discussed as useful for supporting the implementation and maintenance of goals. Thus, there is a need for healthcare providers to develop such tools to empower sustained behavior change. The additional support of a new role, a health coach who specializes in facilitating the process of health-related behavior change, may be required to substantially impact public health.

Keywords: Health Behavior; Health Coaching; Mindfulness; Motivational Interviewing.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A Self-Regulation Model for Enhancing Patients’ Sustained Behavior Change.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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