Principles, tools and techniques for brief behaviour change interventions
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Principles, tools and techniques for brief behaviour change interventions

Lucy Webb Reader, department of nursing, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To learn about the principles and types of brief behaviour change interventions

  • To recognise the importance of motivational interviewing in supporting behaviour change

  • To identify various tools and techniques that you could use in your practice to deliver brief interventions

Nurses are well placed to deliver brief opportunistic health promotion interventions during routine encounters with patients. Brief interventions have been shown to be effective in prompting behaviour change among people who engage in harmful drinking or substance misuse. Nurses can use their communication, relationship-building and partnership-working skills to support people to consider behaviour change. This article explains the concepts that underlie brief behaviour change interventions, which include motivational interviewing and the transtheoretical model of behaviour change. The article also describes practical tools and techniques that nurses can use to deliver such interventions.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2023.e12025

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@SUABManMet

Correspondence

L.Webb@mmu.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Webb L (2023) Principles, tools and techniques for brief behaviour change interventions. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2023.e12025

Published online: 13 February 2023

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