Workshop 1: Beyond the review: Motivational interviewing and soft skills for effective medicines conversations
| Friday, May 29, 2026 |
| 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
| Cypress Room 2 |
Overview
CHAIR: Brooke Snow
Details
Recommending medicines is only part of the consultation. How pharmacists communicate can shape whether patients feel heard, understood, and motivated to act.
This interactive workshop introduces consultant pharmacists to practical communication strategies that strengthen medicines conversations. Drawing on principles of motivational interviewing, participants will explore techniques such as active listening, reflective questioning and empathetic responses that support behaviour change and shared decision-making.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the principles of motivational interviewing used in medicines consultations
- Recognise communication techniques that support patient engagement and behaviour change
- Discuss strategies to improve medicine adherence through effective consultation skills
Competency Standards (2016): 1.1,1.2,1.3,2.1,2.2
Speaker
Brooke Snow
PSA
Workshop 1: Beyond the review: Motivational interviewing and soft skills for effective medicines conversations
Biography
Brooke Snow is the Senior Manager – Pharmacist Practice Advancement at the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), where she leads national efforts to advance, embed and scale innovative pharmacist practice across key care settings, including consultant pharmacy, general practice, hospital and aged care.
A pharmacist by background, Brooke holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy from James Cook University, along with postgraduate qualifications in Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy from the University of Queensland. She brings a unique blend of frontline clinical experience and system-level leadership, having previously worked as a Hospital Pharmacist, General Practice Pharmacist and led the commissioning of one of Northern Queensland’s first pharmacist-in-general-practice pilot programs with the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network.
In her current role, Brooke works at the intersection of policy, funding and practice, translating reform into sustainable, high-impact models of care. She is passionate about strengthening the integration of pharmacists across the health system and is a strong advocate for the profession’s role in improving patient outcomes within primary care.