Episode 109: The Conversation That Changes Behaviour: Practical Motivational Interviewing for Clinicians

In this episode of the RCP Medicine Podcast, Dr Raj Amarnani, consultant in sport, exercise and musculoskeletal medicine, Fellow of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine, and current president of the Royal Society of Medicine Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Section, joins Dr Alice Cole, clinical education fellow at the Royal College of Physicians, to explore how motivational interviewing can support the NHS shift from treatment to prevention.

Raj explains why patients are often not lacking information but are instead overwhelmed, ambivalent or unsure where to start. Together, Raj and Alice discuss how motivational interviewing helps clinicians unlock a patient's own reasons for change, making conversations about physical activity, medication adherence, smoking cessation and other health behaviours more effective and patient-centred.

Using practical examples and role-play scenarios, they demonstrate simple techniques clinicians can introduce immediately, including the OARS framework, ask-offer-ask conversations, confidence scaling and strategies for supporting sustainable behaviour change. They also discuss physical activity guidance, exercise "microdosing" and how even brief conversations can have a lasting impact on patient outcomes.

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