Grant: Project Grant

Poor health behaviors such as smoking, being physically inactive, eating an unhealthy diet, and not taking medication as prescribed are important risk factors for the development and/or worsening of chronic diseases (like heart and lung diseases, obesity, diabetes and cancer). In order to get people to engage in good health behaviors, doctors typically give people advice about what they should (and should not) be doing in order to improve their health. However, people often resent getting advice when it is perceived as being "told what to do" - which tends to make people resistant to changing their behavior. This indicates that 'advice-giving' is not a useful strategy. Motivational communication (MC) is a communication style used to motivate people to adopt a healthy lifestyle by exploring how having good health behaviors can help them achieve their personal life goals. It is very personalized so it can be used in people of all ages, races, cultures and languages. It has been very effective in helping people quit smoking, lose weight, and be more active. As a result, more and more doctors are getting trained to use MC with their patients. However, there are no really good tests for assessing how well doctors are using MC, which is important for ensuring the quality of training programs but also for ensuring patients benefit from the approach. This project focuses on the development a new test to measure MC skills in doctors that is scientifically valid, fun, easy and quick to use. Then we want to verify that it tests what it is supposed to test (MC skills), so that we can use it to assess how well our training programs are able to improve doctors' MC skills. Helping doctors learn more effective methods for supporting patients to adopt a healthier lifestyle and engage in good health behaviors is critical for improving health outcomes in those with or at risk for chronic disease.