Multimedia Motivational Interviewing Training for Physical Therapists

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a unique style of communication that has demonstrated success with very resistant clients, such as those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. A growing number of experienced trainers in MI now provide training workshops that are customized to the needs of a broad range of health care professionals and forward thinking medical school programs now offer students training in MI. In this Phase I, Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) proposal, Behavioral Research, Incorporated, (BRI) seeks to design and develop a prototype for a computer-based, multimedia, interactive, educational program to teach PT students the techniques of MI for use in clinical settings and to evaluate its impact compared with classroom training. The results of a preliminary evaluation of the processes associated with the classroom teaching of MI in this setting and its impact on learning have been encouraging. A multimedia product such as the one proposed has the appeal of offering learner-centered training that may supplement or substitute standard classroom methods of teaching MI. The content and methodology will be standardized, which will provide quality assurance, and with access to a computer the intervention will be both accessible and cost effective. In Phase I, the prototype will be developed by a team of professionals, or Expert Panel, with extensive knowledge of MI, PT and instructional design and technology. Input will also be received from focus groups consisting of PT students, faculty and practitioners. After its completion, the prototype will be fully functional and will include a splash screen that introduces the product and demonstrates its overall ?look and feel ?; and also a main menu that will contain access to a portion of the multimedia MI education program that will be ready for use by the viewer. The prototype will focus on two of twelve topics that are typically covered within the content of a MI teaching module. The other ten topics will be inactive, but a rollover description will outline how they intend to be operated in the future, allowing the end-users to assess the depth and breadth of the content and the potential effectiveness of the overall program. The prototype will be tested and compared with classroom teaching in a sample of PT students. A focus group consisting of volunteers from the group that received the multimedia intervention will then be convened to gather information about their experience of using the product. An independent research group will also conduct a nationwide survey of sixteen APTA accredited PT school programs to determine the feasibility of incorporating this approach to learning within their curriculum. We believe that this multimedia approach to learning MI has a high potential for commercialization in PT schools across the nation, as a stand alone teaching module or to be used in conjunction with classroom teaching. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a unique style of communication that has demonstrated success with very resistant clients, such as those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. A growing number of experienced trainers in MI now provide training workshops that are customized to the needs of a broad range of health care professionals and forward thinking medical school programs now offer students training in MI. In this Phase I, Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) proposal, Behavioral Research, Incorporated, (BRI) seeks to design and develop a prototype for a computer-based, multimedia, interactive, educational program to teach PT students the techniques of MI for use in clinical settings and to evaluate its impact compared with classroom training. We believe that this multimedia approach to learning MI has a high potential for commercialization in PT schools across the nation, as a stand alone teaching module or to be used in conjunction with classroom teaching.