What are the barriers and enablers to integration of motivational interviewing training in a New Zealand hospital setting?

Abstract

Continuing professional development is vital to evidence-based practice in healthcare. By engaging in ongoing learning opportunities healthcare professionals strive to keep up to date with developments in their field of practice. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a person-centred counselling style that has been found to be useful in addressing health behaviours. Learning this approach and being able to successfully integrate this into practice may enable health professionals to improve health outcomes for patients receiving treatment in a New Zealand hospital setting. The existing literature indicates very poor rates of integration post–training in general, with training in MI being no exception. Although MI training is provided in many sectors in New Zealand, there is no clear understanding of the challenges that New Zealand based clinicians may face post-training. No New Zealand studies have explored MI skills integration post-training to identify any unique barriers or enablers to training uptake. This present research explores the barriers and enablers to integration of MI into a New Zealand hospital setting. A mixed methods approach was used to explore the experiences of clinicians after a two day training in MI. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected through an online survey and semi structured interviews between six to eight weeks after training. Similar to overseas studies, the results indicate that New Zealand clinicians experience many factors that impact on their ability to integrate new learning. Although there are correlations to previous studies, some identified barriers and enablers may be unique to New Zealand. This research also identifies intentional integration behaviour which not only warrants further exploration but could also be taught and promoted during training events. This research provides a platform for improving the integration of training in MI.