Can Motivational Interviewing Make a Difference in Supporting Employees to Deal with Elevated Blood Pressure? A Feasibility Study at the Workplace

<i>Background</i>: To overcome the problem of a high prevalence of undiscovered or untreated arterial hypertension in people of working age, the effects of behavioral change counseling in occupational health (OH) services should be investigated. The technique of motivational interviewing...

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Main Authors: Martina Michaelis, Carmen Witte (née Farian), Barbara Schüle, Katrin Frick, Monika A. Rieger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4179
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spelling doaj-199375a0a8774736876660cf2ae5cbac2021-04-15T23:02:21ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1661-78271660-46012021-04-01184179417910.3390/ijerph18084179Can Motivational Interviewing Make a Difference in Supporting Employees to Deal with Elevated Blood Pressure? A Feasibility Study at the WorkplaceMartina Michaelis0Carmen Witte (née Farian)1Barbara Schüle2Katrin Frick3Monika A. Rieger4Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine and Health Services Research, University Hospital of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, GermanyInstitute of Occupational and Social Medicine and Health Services Research, University Hospital of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, GermanyOccupational Health Service, Daimler AG, 70546 Stuttgart, GermanyGerman Academy for Psychology, 10179 Berlin, GermanyInstitute of Occupational and Social Medicine and Health Services Research, University Hospital of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany<i>Background</i>: To overcome the problem of a high prevalence of undiscovered or untreated arterial hypertension in people of working age, the effects of behavioral change counseling in occupational health (OH) services should be investigated. The technique of motivational interviewing (MI) to support health-related lifestyle changes by physicians and/or occupational nurses (‘health coach’) has been shown to be successful in patients with chronic diseases. In 2010, we planned a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with employees who suffer from mild arterial hypertension. A preliminary feasibility study was performed in a large manufacturing company in Germany. <i>Methods</i>: All employees with elevated blood pressure measured by the OH-service were invited to undergo validation by 30 self-measurements. Persons with validated elevated values and without medical treatment received either usual hypertension counseling (control group, CG) or intensified MI-counseling (intervention group, IG) by the occupational health physician. Subsequently, the IG received MI-support from the ‘health coach’ in four telephone counseling sessions. Assessed feasibility factors included organizational processes, the acceptance of the validation procedure and the MI-counseling, and as primary outcome for an RCT the extent to which participants made health-related changes to their lifestyles. <i>Results</i>: Initially, 299 individuals were included in Study Part A (screening). At the end of Study Part B (intervention), out of 34 participants with validated and non-treated mild hypertension, only 7 (IG) and 6 (CG) participants completed the intervention including documentation. The high drop-out rate was due to the frequent lack of willingness to perform the 30 self-measurements at home with their own equipment. Acceptance was little higher when we changed the method to two repeated measurements in the OH service. MI-counseling, especially by the health coach, was evaluated positively. <i>Conclusions</i>: Despite the promising counseling approach, the feasibility study showed that an RCT with previous screening in the operational setting can only be implemented with high financial and personnel effort to reach an appropriate number of subjects. This substantial result could only be achieved through this comprehensive feasibility study, which investigated all aspects of the planned future RCT.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4179arterial hypertensionmotivational interviewingbehavioral change counselingoccupational health servicehealth coachfeasibility study
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Martina Michaelis
Carmen Witte (née Farian)
Barbara Schüle
Katrin Frick
Monika A. Rieger
spellingShingle Martina Michaelis
Carmen Witte (née Farian)
Barbara Schüle
Katrin Frick
Monika A. Rieger
Can Motivational Interviewing Make a Difference in Supporting Employees to Deal with Elevated Blood Pressure? A Feasibility Study at the Workplace
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
arterial hypertension
motivational interviewing
behavioral change counseling
occupational health service
health coach
feasibility study
author_facet Martina Michaelis
Carmen Witte (née Farian)
Barbara Schüle
Katrin Frick
Monika A. Rieger
author_sort Martina Michaelis
title Can Motivational Interviewing Make a Difference in Supporting Employees to Deal with Elevated Blood Pressure? A Feasibility Study at the Workplace
title_short Can Motivational Interviewing Make a Difference in Supporting Employees to Deal with Elevated Blood Pressure? A Feasibility Study at the Workplace
title_full Can Motivational Interviewing Make a Difference in Supporting Employees to Deal with Elevated Blood Pressure? A Feasibility Study at the Workplace
title_fullStr Can Motivational Interviewing Make a Difference in Supporting Employees to Deal with Elevated Blood Pressure? A Feasibility Study at the Workplace
title_full_unstemmed Can Motivational Interviewing Make a Difference in Supporting Employees to Deal with Elevated Blood Pressure? A Feasibility Study at the Workplace
title_sort can motivational interviewing make a difference in supporting employees to deal with elevated blood pressure? a feasibility study at the workplace
publisher MDPI AG
series International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
issn 1661-7827
1660-4601
publishDate 2021-04-01
description <i>Background</i>: To overcome the problem of a high prevalence of undiscovered or untreated arterial hypertension in people of working age, the effects of behavioral change counseling in occupational health (OH) services should be investigated. The technique of motivational interviewing (MI) to support health-related lifestyle changes by physicians and/or occupational nurses (‘health coach’) has been shown to be successful in patients with chronic diseases. In 2010, we planned a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with employees who suffer from mild arterial hypertension. A preliminary feasibility study was performed in a large manufacturing company in Germany. <i>Methods</i>: All employees with elevated blood pressure measured by the OH-service were invited to undergo validation by 30 self-measurements. Persons with validated elevated values and without medical treatment received either usual hypertension counseling (control group, CG) or intensified MI-counseling (intervention group, IG) by the occupational health physician. Subsequently, the IG received MI-support from the ‘health coach’ in four telephone counseling sessions. Assessed feasibility factors included organizational processes, the acceptance of the validation procedure and the MI-counseling, and as primary outcome for an RCT the extent to which participants made health-related changes to their lifestyles. <i>Results</i>: Initially, 299 individuals were included in Study Part A (screening). At the end of Study Part B (intervention), out of 34 participants with validated and non-treated mild hypertension, only 7 (IG) and 6 (CG) participants completed the intervention including documentation. The high drop-out rate was due to the frequent lack of willingness to perform the 30 self-measurements at home with their own equipment. Acceptance was little higher when we changed the method to two repeated measurements in the OH service. MI-counseling, especially by the health coach, was evaluated positively. <i>Conclusions</i>: Despite the promising counseling approach, the feasibility study showed that an RCT with previous screening in the operational setting can only be implemented with high financial and personnel effort to reach an appropriate number of subjects. This substantial result could only be achieved through this comprehensive feasibility study, which investigated all aspects of the planned future RCT.
topic arterial hypertension
motivational interviewing
behavioral change counseling
occupational health service
health coach
feasibility study
url https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4179
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