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The more minute conversation is the Rolls-Royce of physical activity conversations for clinical practice. It has been designed to help you tread the fine line between sharing a rich body of evidence around physical activity for the management of long term conditions with a framework crafted using behavioural change science to help build and reinforce an individual’s motivation and commitment to changing their own behaviour.
The more minutes conversation is anticipated for use when physical activity is the primary focus of the consultation. As with the shorter conversations, this template has been developed as a guide. The format starts with the key processes underpinning an active conversation. These processes are broken down into specific objectives for each part of the conversation and we suggest phrases to help you achieve each objective whilst maintaining the individual’s personal preferences at the forefront of the consultation.
| PROCESS | OBJECTIVE | SUGGESTED PHRASING |
| ENGAGE | Open the conversation | “Would you be happy to spend a few minutes talking about something that can make a big difference to your future health and wellbeing?” |
| Assess impact of the condition | How has your condition affected your physical activity levels and the things you enjoy? | |
| Explore current activity | “How much physical activity do you manage to get done in a regular day?” | |
| EXPLORE | Find out what they already know | “What do you know about the benefits of physical activity in people with your condition?” |
| Share benefits | Can I share some other things people find beneficial to see what you make of them | |
| Encourage reflection | “What do you make of what I have just said?” | |
| STRENGTHEN | Make it personal | “What would be the top 2-3 reasons for you personally becoming more active, if you decided to?” |
| Look forwards | “Let’s imagine that you did decide to live a more active lifestyle and were able to keep it up for six months or so, what differences do you think you might notice?” | |
| DECIDE | Summarise without adding anything new | “Can I summarise what I think you have said?” |
| Ask the key question | ‘So, what do you think you will do?’ | |
| PLAN | Explore opportunities in daily routine | How do you think you might get started? |
| Agree a plan | “Can I share with you some things people find helpful when making a plan?” | |
| Troubleshoot | “What might get in the way of your plan?” | |
| SUPPORT | Arrange follow up | “What would be helpful for me to arrange for you to follow up on this conversation?” |
| Signpost support organisations | “There are some great, free resources available here and on other websites by people who understand what it’s like living with your condition if you’d be interested to have a look” |