On February 4, 2025, the Public Health Center of Ukraine (PHC) held a training session titled "Motivational Interviewing Techniques" for doctors working with pregnant women. The training aimed to equip healthcare professionals with effective motivational interviewing methods to support healthy behaviors in pregnant women, particularly in promoting alcohol cessation and reducing other harmful habits.
The event was organized and conducted by the Public Health Center of Ukraine, specifically experts from the Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) Prevention and Research Departments:
· Natalia Usenko, Specialist, NCD Prevention Department
· Yuliia Kotykovych, Lead Specialist, NCD Prevention Department
· Kateryna Marushko, Lead Specialist, Research Department
· Darina Pustylnyk, Specialist, NCD Prevention Department
About the Training
The training was led by Ihor Zastavnyi, Ph.D. in Medicine, Associate Professor at the UCU School of Public Administration, Board Member of the Ukrainian Academy of Family Medicine, and Master Trainer of the mhGAP program.
Participants included doctors from healthcare facilities in Kyiv involved in the pilot program "Screening and Brief Interventions for Alcohol Use Among Pregnant Women":
- Kyiv Perinatal Center
- Kyiv City Center for Reproductive and Perinatal Medicine
- Kyiv City Maternity Hospital No. 1
During the session, participants learned about modern approaches to promoting healthy behaviors, studied the fundamentals of brief interventions and motivational interviewing, engaged in practical exercises to enhance their counseling skills, and completed a knowledge assessment test.
Doctors also discussed real-life cases and received feedback from the trainer on the effectiveness of their applied methods.
Why This Matters
This training is part of the pilot program "Screening and Brief Interventions to Reduce Alcohol Use Among Pregnant Women", implemented under the European project JA PreventNCD, which aims to reduce the burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases with financial support from the European Union.
The importance of the initiative was highlighted by Oleksandr Yurchenko, Deputy Director General of the Public Health Center:
"According to WHO data from 2023, alcohol consumption remains a pressing issue among adult women in Ukraine. Given this, as well as the absence of a unified national screening and intervention program for alcohol use during pregnancy, introducing a new counseling model is a necessary step toward reducing the risks of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and improving the health of future mothers and children."
The Public Health Center remains committed to supporting initiatives aimed at enhancing the competencies of healthcare professionals in disease prevention and health promotion. Training programs of this kind contribute to more effective patient counseling and foster healthier habits within the population.