Health Coaching strategies to increase the motivation of Adolescents
Duration: 44 mins
DOI: 10.13056/acamh.13641
Description
Deborah Christie addresses the challenge of motivating young people to make positive lifestyle choices for their health. She acknowledges that not everyone who has the capacity to make these choices is ready or willing to do so, which can be frustrating for both family members and healthcare professionals. Many young people understand the importance of self-care but may lack the confidence and motivation to prioritise it. Christie emphasises that building the confidence to change requires young people to be ready, willing, and equipped with the necessary skills, resources, and abilities. While the initial reaction of healthcare professionals may be to educate, she points out that simply providing information often doesn't result in behavior change. Instead, Christie advocates for taking a coaching stance with young people. This approach involves inviting them to think about the changes they want to make, when they want to make them, and how they can make them. It incorporates techniques such as Motivational Interviewing, Solution-focused, and Narrative techniques to help young people explore and resolve ambivalence about behaviour change. This coaching stance aims to elicit internal motivation for change and can be a valuable prelude to treatment or integrated with other treatment approaches. It is particularly effective in working with adolescents who may exhibit ambivalence and resistance to change.
Learning Objectives
A. To understand how a health coaching approach can structure your interactions with adolescent clients
B. To review how to apply motivational interview skills and interventions to your remote and face-to-face consultations
C. To learn how to empower adolescent patients to understand and act on their data
