What are Healthy Conversation Skills and what will they help you achieve?

Healthy Conversation Skills training builds on and strengthens your existing communication and reflection skills, empowering you to better support others in making sustainable health behaviour and lifestyle changes.

The training will build on your confidence and skills to support your clients and patients to:

  • Reflect on their lives and identify what they would like to change

  • Prioritize changes to be made to improve their health and well-being

  • Identify first steps to improve a specific health behaviour (e.g., diet, physical activity, etc.)

  • Make a plan to reach their goal

  • Increase their self-efficacy and sense of control over their choices and behaviours

What does Healthy Conversation Skills training look like?

Healthy Conversation Skills training takes place over two, half-day (i.e., 4 hour) sessions that are completed at least 1 week apart. The training is done in groups of 8 to 15 people. Sessions are interactive and give participants an opportunity to learn about and practice the skills. Training can be completed online via Zoom or in-person.

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  • Healthy Conversation Skills trainers specialize in providing tailored training for health professionals (and aspiring health professionals) who support individuals in making positive health and lifestyle behaviour changes such as improving dietary intake, physical activity, sleep, reducing alcohol intake, promoting mental and emotional health and wellbeing, and supporting smoking cessation. Some health professionals who have taken and benefited from Healthy Conversation Skills Training include: nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, doctors, and social workers, amongst others.

    If you're unsure whether this training is right for you or your organization, please contact us.

  • Healthy Conversation Skills and the associated training sessions were developed by a multi-disciplinary public health research team at the University of Southampton in the UK in conjunction with staff from Southampton City Council, NHS Southampton City & Southampton Sure Start Children’s Centres. The training was originally implemented with staff working in Sure Start Children’s Centres in Southampton to help them better support the parents who visit their centres to make healthy lifestyle choices for themselves & their families. It has since been adapted to suit a wide range of health & social care settings.

  • While other training programs exist to support health and lifestyle behavior change, Healthy Conversation Skills stands apart by focusing on practical, actionable conversation techniques that can be applied by diverse providers across the workforce. The training was designed to strengthen and complement the skills you already have to be effective in supporting behaviour change.

    It is evidenced-based training developed by health psychologists and experts in public health to provide practical conversation skills across the workforce so they can support behaviour change for service-users and colleagues.

    Healthy Conversation Skills training delivers results. Evaluations show it increases staff confidence in having difficult or sensitive conversations about behaviour change. Findings show it has a positive impact on people’s attitudes and behaviours.

  • Healthy Conversations Skills Training consists of two half-day sessions, delivered at least one week a part. You must attend both sessions in order to receive your certificate of completion, and you must attend sessions 1 before you attend sessions 2. Therefore, if you are unable to attend session 1, we can reschedule you for the next available training sessions. If you attend session 1 and are unable to attend session 2, you will be rescheduled to attend session 2 with a different group on a different day.

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