Minutes (07-21-00)

1.	The core members of the group were present at the meeting as well as several interested members of the BCC who had not been involved in the previous discussions. For this reason, time was spent updating the group about the issues the workgroup had been discussing such as quality control, training and certification of counselors, and how to define our projects in relationship to MI.
2.	Several members of the group had been present in Quebec for the annual MINT (Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers) meeting and/or the Training of Trainers. This group met with Bill Miller in Quebec and that meeting was also summarized (there are minutes for this meeting separately).
3.	Belinda reported on the updating of the matrix of MI elements that each project is doing. The group will ask each project to update because our discussion of those elements has been advanced since they were completed earlier.
4.	Denise reported that she has a first draft of a revised coding system based on MISC. After the discussion in Quebec, a one-pass system that strives to code both global attributes and categorize each utterance was conceived. Denise will distribute this to the group for comments. She has also agreed to test it out with previously coded tapes to ascertain if it produces similar results or seems doable. Denise is also planning to have a discussion with Bill Miller about the revised coding manual to get his feedback and thoughts.
5.	The group discussed the issues around the taping of sessions so that the coding could be done. The recommendation that sites make an effort to code all sessions. There were several sites who routinely do this including Portland, Miriam Brown, Emory, and Rochester. The Cornell site felt that taping was not acceptable in their setting and will choose not to do it. Additionally, other sites questioned the feasibility and/or desirability of taping and/or coding and will make that decision later. Denise requested that each site that was taping send her some sample tapes so that she could try out the coding system on those interventions.
6.	The group continued the discussion on core elements of MI and how that applies to the BCC projects. They are very diverse in content, setting, skill and background of interventionists, and time for intervention. It was clear from the matrix that most all of the projects are doing some version of all the strategies and skills involved. We need to find a way of accurately describing to what extent the interventions approach MI. It was generally believed that the global attributes associated with MI such as empathy, warmth, acceptance, and egalitarianism should be present for all interventions, whether they are MI or a motivationally-informed brief intervention. However, they may differ in the extent to which the skills and strategies are employed. Perhaps the coding will be able to differentiate this. The discussion will be continued.