Encouraging patients to change unhealthy behaviors with motivational interviewing.

arcus is a middle-aged patient with hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia who came to see me (CF) for a routine check-up. All of his numbers were getting worse, and as I began to describe this to him, he started to cry. I had just received training in something called “motivational interviewing” as part of a research study I was participating in, so I immediately stopped the interview and said, “I would like to try something new with you. Let’s forget about your numbers for now and work on small goals that you feel you can accomplish. If you had one eating habit that you could change, one that would improve your health, what would it be?” “I eat too many fried foods,” he responded, explaining that he went to a certain fast-food restaurant five times a week. “What do you think you could cut that down to?” I asked. “I’m going to cut out the fried foods entirely,” he said. I explained, “That’s not how this works. We want to set a goal that you are sure you can succeed at.” Marcus insisted that he could do it; he would not eat any more fried foods by the time I saw him next month. He was no longer crying, and he seemed to feel much better about the encounter. I too felt much better about the encounter. In a very short time,