Considerations from Psychology on Implementing Motivational Interviewing in Audiology: Response to Solheim et al (2018) “An Evaluation of Motivational Interviewing for Increasing Hearing Aid Use: A Pilot Study”

Abstract

Comments on an article by Jorunn Solheim et al. (see record [rid]2018-48489-003[/rid]). The article presents an effort to explore how motivational interviewing (MI) can be used in audiologic practice to increase hearing aid wear time for patients. The purpose of the study was to determine if MI had a significant effect on data logging and participant perception of hearing aids. MI is a counseling method to help patients draw on reasons or motivations for seeking treatment, exploring feelings of ambivalence (e.g., recognizing the need for hearing aids but not wanting to wear them), and changing behavior. MI is an empirically supported psychotherapy, and other areas of healthcare have successfully used MI to support desired behavior change to increase treatment adherence. This is one of the first studies to investigate MI in audiology, an important and needed area of research that has the potential to advance hearing healthcare and improve patient outcomes. Finally, future attempts at such studies will likely have stronger outcomes if MI is incorporated as designed by considering the patient’s current stage of change and allowing time (more than one 30-minute session) for progression through each stage based on the patient’s motivation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)