Facebook as a social media to interact with pregnant women and new mothers post partum about healthy lifestyle

Aim:To explore healthcare professional’s communication skills using motivational interviewing (MI) in lifestyle interventions. Design: An intervention study using quantitative and qualitative research. Method: A quantitative method, motivational interviewing integrity coding (MITI) was performed after a three-day training course in MI. This was followed by a qualitative method applied to semi-structured interviews recorded verbatim of healthcare professional’s experiences of using motivational interviewing in their daily clinic when addressing lifestyle changes with obese patients in obstetrics.Results: Generally the healthcare professionals changed their behaviour appropriate to the motivational interviewing method after participating in a three day training course in MI. Motivational interviewing makes the healthcare professionals significantly more aware of their own communication style. However time is essential and must be dedicated to the method from both the health professionals as well as management Training in motivational interviewing requires follow up training, group sessions and supervision in order to maintain the ability to use the MI method. Motivational interviewing enables the healthcare professionals in becoming more professional, and assists them in handling life-style related issues and sensitive subjects such as obesity. Subsequently the healthcare professionals felt motivated to increase their competences in working with obese patients using the MI method. Conclusion: The general outcome suggests that a three day training course in motivational interviewing improves the healthcare professionals competency when communicating with patients about lifestyle changes and obesity.