About 25% of Americans smoke and the majority of current smokers do not plan on quitting any time soon. For these smokers, interventions tailored to decrease their resistance and increase their readiness to stop smoking are most effective. Motivational Interviewing (MI) focuses on overcoming resistance to change by increasing awareness that smoking is a problem, strengthening motivation, and increasing confidence that change is possible. Finally, when the patient makes a commitment to quitting, MI focuses on quitting strategies and relapse prevention. In Phase I of the Motivational Interviewing via Role-play internet-delivered Simulation (MIRIS) project, we developed an interactive multimedia simulation and tutoring environment to train healthcare professionals and students to deliver a brief motivational smoking consult for patients not ready to quit smoking. Evaluations indicate that 1) users found MIRIS to be an attractive and user-friendly tutorial and 2) MIRIS is effective in teaching brief motivational smoking cessation strategies. Phase II goals include adding audio and video, developing additional modules for working with patients at different stages of change and conducting a large teaching effectiveness study with clinicians at two medical settings. ? ? ?
