Symposia
Disaster Mental Health
Marie M. Mesidor, Ph.D.
Central Arkansas Veterans Health System
Little Rock, Arkansas
Jennifer Manuel, PhD
Deputy Chief of Psychology, Mental Health Service
San Francisco VA Healthcare System
San Francisco, California
Karen Seal, MD, MPH
Chief, Integrative Health Service
San Francisco VA Healthcare System
San Francisco, California
Jeffrey Pyne, MD
Staff Physician & research Scientist
Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many healthcare workers feeling that they lack the skills to effectively communicate with patients about vaccines to help them make informed decisions given significant polarization, confusion, and misinformation in society. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a patient-centered, evidence based intervention effective for promoting behavior change in patients who are ambivalent, hesitant or resistant. It can also be used as a complement to various psychotherapeutic approaches. Research has shown that MI trainings are effective in increasing a range of healthcare workers’ knowledge, confidence and skill. In addition, peer learning communities promote retention of MI skills over time. This presentation will identify essential elements of an innovative training program, that is part of a larger study, using motivational interviewing for promoting vaccine acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The training highlights the effectiveness of MI in helping healthcare workers partner with patients in a manner that honors individual’s values and provides them support given their fears, concerns and needs with empathy and compassion. This presentation will include (1) the numbers of healthcare workers attending trainings and peer learning communities as well as the their professional disciplines; (2) strategies for engaging health care workers to attend and participate in trainings ; (3) essential features of the MI trainings, including MI skills taught (open ended questions, reflections, autonomy support, and providing information), clinical demonstrations, and interactive and practice components; (4) ways to support ongoing conversations about vaccines despite professional discipline and factoring previous tense interactions regarding the vaccines; (5) steps for establishing peer learning communities that provide opportunities to practice and additional support in a manner that allows for the participation of busy healthcare workers; and (6) lessons learned and recommendations for implementing a similar MI training program to promote vaccine acceptance in other settings.