Finding the right motivation is really important!

It has been over a month since my wife was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and since then she has seen a specialist nurse, a dietician and a GP.  And each have given her a plethora of documentation with “Read this, it will help you” type instruction.  She is still left a little confused on what she can and can’t eat, especially when she is also a Coeliac, advise has been sporadic and sparse and the internet has provided a great deal of help to her especially the patient stories, (my 10 years working in the field of diabetes doesn’t seem to count!)

My wife isn’t use to exercise as she never appears to have the time, so to try and motivate her to exercise was originally proving difficult, so I simply tried some of the motivational interview techniques on her and asked her what was important to her….of course I knew the answers but I needed for her to hear herself...and of course it was the children.  And her fear was not being able bodied enough to look after them, and since then she has been running (somewhat reluctantly to start with) at least twice a week for about 30mins. 

So take it from me if you want patients to adhere to advice and medication, find out what motivates them!

• Klynn Alibocus's blog
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