Category: White paper

Nicole Rodriguez

Director of Respiratory Care

Nicole Rodriguez brings two decades of experience to her role as a Respiratory Therapist at SuperCare Health. She oversees clinical protocols, tech-driven population health programs, and patient engagement initiatives. Nicole is dedicated to empowering patients through compassionate education and support.

When managing chronic respiratory conditions in the home setting, patient adherence is one of the most significant hurdles for healthcare providers. Patient independence, support system, and daily routines all play a role in a unique and occasionally tumultuous journey that, when left unchecked, can lead to unfavorable outcomes. For healthcare providers, the importance of this endeavor is evident: patient adherence is the gateway to improved health, reduced admissions, and more favorable cost-related outcomes. While these reasons carry importance within the healthcare system, they alone rarely prove sufficient to drive adherence from the patient’s point of view properly.   In reality, it’s not our “why” that matters most, but the patients.

Motivational Therapy is one of the tools we can use to help bridge the gap between our clinical expectations and the patient’s reality. Motivational therapy is a patient-centered approach that helps individuals identify and explore their intrinsic motivations, set achievable goals, and develop the resilience and self-efficacy needed to make positive changes in their lives. In the words of motivational therapist Stephen Rollnick, “It’s not about telling patients what to do; it’s about helping them find their own reasons to change.” 

Implementing a motivational approach with patients at home boosts outcomes and fosters a vital bond between the patient and their homecare team. At SuperCare Health, our Respiratory Therapists are trained to help establish and shape the landscape of each patient’s motivational journey.  This process helps to engrain trust and support throughout the various stages of the patient’s disease progression and overall care plan.

Here are a few strategies that you can use to help your clinicians enhance their motivational skills:

• Training and Education: Provide comprehensive training on motivational interviewing techniques and motivational therapy.
• Role Modeling:  Consider peer-to-peer mentoring programs to facilitate knowledge sharing and skill development. Conduct case reviews to identify what works and needs improvement in patient motivation techniques.
• Goal moderation: Teach clinicians to break larger goals into smaller, manageable steps, making progress more tangible and motivating.
• Strength-Based Approaches: Guide clinicians in identifying and building upon the strengths and resources that patients already possess.  Help them frame discussions to highlight patients’ past successes and capabilities.

By implementing these and many more strategies, you can help clinicians develop and refine their motivational skills, ultimately leading to better patient engagement, adherence, and outcomes in the healthcare setting.

Managing chronic respiratory conditions at home can be challenging due to patient adherence issues. Motivational therapy, a patient-centered approach, can help bridge the gap between clinical expectations and patient reality. SuperCare Health offers trained Respiratory Therapists to support patients on their motivational journey, fostering trust and support. To enhance clinicians’ motivational skills, consider providing training, peer mentoring, goal moderation, and strength-based approaches.

If you need support in managing chronic respiratory conditions at home, don’t hesitate to reach out to SuperCare Health. Our Respiratory Therapists are here to help you on your unique motivational journey, ensuring better patient engagement and improved healthcare outcomes.