Behaviour change and motivational interviewing in the patient with diabetes

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is designed to motivate people to change by helping them to recognise and resolve the difference between a behaviour problem and personal goals and values. There are several challenges of health behaviour change in MI, as well as traps that the health care provider and patient can easily fall into. During the MI approach, a patient should be guided through the change model, providing him the chance to participate. There are several general principles in the MI approach as well as different interaction techniques. The efficacy of MI has been widely published in the literature.