The motivational interview opens the door to more smokers decide to quit.

-Around 30% of the population is smoking in Spain; where tobacco is charged more than 50,000 deaths a year

-the DVD contains a method based on the motivational interview and gives clues about how to achieve the confidence and commitment of patients quit

-the direct costs of smoking of associated diseases, more than € 7 billion

Madrid, July 2012.- are becoming more people trying to quit smoking. In this sense, demonstrated that the health care professional plays a key role: while only 3% of those who try to quit smoking succeed without professional assistance, with the help of health professionals increases 30% the probability of quitting tobacco.

For this reason, in order to facilitate the task of helping smokers quit this disease, health professionals the Ayuntamiento de Madrid, with the collaboration of Pfizer, presents the DVD discuss or talk ”, an exceptional tool for professionals of health, which collects useful strategies and criteria to address the motivational interviewat the time that brings them fundamental keys on how achieve the confidence and commitment of their patients so they stop smoking.

The motivational interview is a simple, brief and clear resource that complements other techniques and procedures to quit smoking. According to Dr. Miguel Costa Cabanillas, director of the Center for promotion of healthy habits and co-author of the DVD, it is of a very simple technique that allows quickly motivate the smoker’s behavioral change process. The basic skills that make up the motivational interview can be synthesized in some key strategies: (a) validate, legitimize, or normalize the consumption and the desire for smoking, (b) clarify and resolve ambivalence, one of the main obstacles that a smoker is to take the decision to leave the consumption (c) help identify values that guide the objectives and decisions for change(d) facilitate the discrepancy between the consumer and the change objectives, (e) clarify and respect decision making, or in the sense that it is, and (f) check and increase self-efficacy to have dominion over change and maintenance ”.

Doctor Costa Cabanillas also points out that in the DVD are made very visible some resources such as the respect and legitimacy that the professional shows in relation to what happens to the smoker and his decision-making, strengthening the personal resources of the smoker to deal with the ambivalence and the process of change ”, as well as how to overcome subtle barriers as which lead to believe the smoker that need ” a cigar.

Ana Sanz, Responsable de Relaciones con las Administraciones Sanitarias de Pfizer, y Antonio Prieto, Gerente actual de Madrid Salud.

According to Dr Javier Moreno, responsible for the Madrid health smoking program smoking is a complex biographical experience, it is not a simple and isolated behavior ”. The greatest difficulty lies in leaving a behavior that has a very intense history of reinforcement where the environment and experiences vital and emotional contexts are involved and it is, therefore, very easy to lie and that arise ambivalences in connection with return or not to smoke. Is why, according to the expert, success means a firm decision with which the patient must commit themselves to own and personal reasons, accept that you can make the decision when he decides, and kept safely without smoking may involve anticipating obstacles and redesign the next context and the style of life ”.

Therefore, the DVD teaching format, say its authors, helps to discriminate between an approach of the interview not recommended one that it is, to facilitate the process of change in smoking behaviour. Other advantages are the immediacy of the response which obtains the healthcare professional on the technique used and the practical guide that contains.

In addition, the principles and strategies of this DVD are also valid when dealing with other processes of change in the behaviour of the citizens, such as power, physical activity or alcohol consumption habits. According to Ana Sanz, responsible for relations with the health administrations of Pfizer, this DVD is an instrument of great interest so that practitioners have information about the usefulness of this type of interviews at the time that brings them keys so they stop smoking videos and tutorials that contains ”.

in Spain smoking

about 30% of the Spanish population is smoking. Tobacco claims more than 50,000 lives a year in our country and constitutes the cause preventable higher mortality in the world.