Enhancing Students’ Communication Skills to Support Patient’s Positive Behavior Change

Objectives:

• Explore innovative strategies for teaching motivational interviewing in dental hygiene education.
• Discuss the principles, strategies, and rules of motivational interviewing to enhance student understanding.
• Examine the Spirit of MI and its role in patient communication and behavior change.
• Introduce brief motivational interviewing for time-constrained clinical settings (5-10 minutes).
• Highlight the importance of coaching, feedback, and role-playing in developing students' communication skills.
• Provide a modifiable motivational interviewing curriculum thread for dental hygiene programs.