Motivational interviewing in respiratory therapy: What do clinicians need to make it part of routine care? A qualitative study

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a method for building motivation for behaviour change that has potential for use in respiratory contexts. There is a paucity of published research exploring the feasibility of this intervention from the clinicians’ perspective. This study aimed to explore respiratory clinicians' views of MI: Is it perceived as useful? Could it be integrated into practice? What training would be required to make it part of routine care? Nine respiratory clinicians attended a one-day MI workshop and a semi-structured face-to-face interview two weeks later. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed with thematic analysis. Four main themes are presented—1) MI’s suitability for use in respiratory contexts: participants saw potential in using MI to motivate their patients to engage with prescribed respiratory interventions, such as increased physical activity. Those who experimented with new skills post-workshop were encouraged by patient responsiveness and outcomes. 2) MI’s relationship with routine clinical practice: some believed they already used elements of MI, but most participants felt MI was fundamentally 'different' to their normal style of working. 3) Implementation issues: additional time would need to be made available to enable an appropriate depth of conversation. 4) Training issues: Participants sensed the complexity of MI could make it difficult to learn and that it would take them time to become competent. On-going supervision was perceived as necessary. One key challenge identified was how to suppress behaviours that are antithetical to MI. These findings lend support to the feasibility of using MI in respiratory contexts such as pulmonary rehabilitation programmes, but highlight implementation and training issues that would need to be overcome. The insights have informed the development of another study, testing the effect of a tailored training package on MI skill, specifically for respiratory clinicians delivering pulmonary rehabilitation programmes.