Engaging the Family in Healthy Lifestyle-Blame Free Consultations Caroline O’Connor, Senior Community Dietitian Shirley O’Shea, Senior Health Promotion Officer, Physical Activity Health Promotion & Improvement HSE South
What do you think when you see this?
What do our consultations look like? What do our consultation about lifestyle behaviour look like?
MI and childhood obesity ► Its a chronic condition typically unresponsive to traditional clinical interventions ► MI is a potentially effective strategy ► Almost 80% paediatricians report feeling ‘very frustrated’ treating childhood obesity. ► MI can address clinician confidence and treatment efficacy. ►
MI is…. ► a client centred, directive method for enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence
Or..
It’s Evocative ► ‘The Best ideas come from the client’
It’s about Acceptance ► Human nature resists being told what to do!
If you find yourself lecturing or arguing…
What should be happening..?
“The single most important factor that influences change is the practitioner’s possession of strong communication skills”. (Najavits and Weiss, 1994)
► Open Questions ► Affirmations ► Reflections ► Summaries
Open Questions
Affirmations You really care a lot about your family This is hard work you are doing You were successful in changing in the past
“We have been given two ears and but a single mouth so that we might speak less and listen more.” Zino of Citium
The Spirit Skills Strategies ‘Sustain talk’ Change Talk
UnderweightAbout RightOverweight Healthy Overweight Obese
Why is it so difficult to talk openly about weight? ► Not socially acceptable ► Fear of alienating families by making ‘personal’ comments ► Not knowing how to talk about weight in a sensitive manner ► Feeling distressed about one’s own weight ► Previous experience of individuals reacting strongly when the issue of weight is raised ► Fear of offending parents ► Fear of stigmatising obese and overweight children
► E licit- what do they know already? ► P ermission ► P rovide ► E licit-what do they make of that info?