WHO Publication Showcases Value of Ida Institute's Motivational Tools

The Ida Institute Motivational Tools, The Line, The Box and The Circle, are among the methods to support patients through the process of change featured in the just released Engage in the Process of Change: Facts and Methods, a new publication of the World Health Organization (WHO). The educational textbook, funded by a grant from the Oticon Foundation, presents the easy-to-use tools as an excellent resource for physicians and other healthcare professionals to help them better understand and empower patients to change their lifestyles and behavior. This is the first time that WHO has included hearing loss among other major health conditions in a publication designed to educate and inform healthcare practice worldwide.

"The WHO textbook provides an excellent opportunity to expose healthcare professionals around the world to the benefits of the Ida Motivational Tools," says Ida Managing Director Lise Lotte Bundesen. "We are confident that the tools will facilitate more patient-centered care by professionals in a wide range of healthcare disciplines. We are also hopeful that this worldwide initiative will result in the collection of more evidence to demonstrate the positive impact of the Motivational Tools on people with hearing loss."

The chapter entitled "The Operational Model Used by Audiologists: The Use of Hearing Aids" was contributed to the collaborative textbook by Ida Faculty Members Sam Trychin and John Greer Clark. In their chapter, Trychin and Clark describe the use of the Motivational Tools in audiology to illustrate the potential of the tools to effectively support patients through the change process in a variety of healthcare scenarios. The authors note that the Motivations Tools can significantly impact the success of clinical encounters, including those that involve the patient's relatives and other communication partners.

"The experience of clinical audiologists shows that detailed discussions of a patient's audiogram and the implications of measured hearing deficits on speech reception cannot build the motivation same as is created through a personal exploration of the negative impacts of hearing loss identified by one of any number of self-assessment tools developed by the audiologist," they wrote.

Ida Faculty Member Hanne Tønnesen, CEO of the Clinical Health Promotion Centre at Bispebjerg University Hospital, is the editor of the publication. Tønnesen played a key role in helping the Ida Institute to adapt the Motivation Tools for use in the field of audiology. Hans Henrik Phillipsen, Ida anthropologist, served as a reviewer for the chapter on the Motivational Tools.

The educational textbook is part of the WHO Regional Development Office's development of a new European policy for health, called Health 2020, that aims to strengthen healthcare systems and revitalize public health infrastructures and institutes. The publication is free and can be downloaded from the WHO Europe website (www.euro.who.int). The Ida Motivational Tool can be downloaded at no charge from the Ida Institute website (www.idainstitute.com).