Motivational communication skills to improve motivation and adherence in cardiovascular disease prevention: A narrative review

Abstract

Lifestyle optimization is one of the most essential components of cardiovascular disease prevention. Motivational counseling provided by health care professionals could promote lifestyle modification. The purpose of the review is to identify possible evidence-based psychological principles that may be applicable to motivational counseling in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. These motivational communication skills promote behavioral change, improved motivation and adherence to cardiovascular disease prevention. A personal collection of the relevant publications. The review identified and summarized the previous evidence of implementation intentions, mental contrasting, placebo effect and nocebo effects and identity-based regulations in behavior change interventions and proposed their potential application in cardiovascular disease prevention. However, it is challenging to provide real support in sustainable CVD-risk reduction and encourage patients to implement lifestyle changes, while avoiding being unnecessarily judgmental, disrespectful of autonomy, or engaging patients in burdensome efforts that have little or no effect on the long run. Motivational communication skills have a great potential for effectuating sustainable lifestyle changes that reduce CVD-related risks, but it is also surrounded by ethical issues that should be appropriately addressed in practice. It is key to realize that motivational communication is nothing like an algorithm that is likely to bring about sustainable lifestyle change, but a battery of interventions that requires specific expertise and long term joint efforts of patients and their team of caregivers.