Heart disease prevention in women: Promoting exercise

PURPOSE: To reinforce the importance of exercise in reducing heart disease in women and to describe motivational interviewing (MI), an effective and efficient approach to promoting exercise with women in a brief office visit with a nurse practitioner (NP). DATA SOURCES: Information was obtained from a literature review. Two brief examples from clinical practice are presented. CONCLUSIONS: Although exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease in women, most women do not exercise enough to achieve a risk reduction. Although health promotion is a key goal of the NP, it can be difficult to incorporate in a busy practice. When time is limited, brief MI interactions can be effective in less than 10 min, and the results surpass those of the traditional advice to exercise. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: MI is an effective approach to exercise counseling that the NP can quickly learn and successfully conduct within the confines of a brief office visit.