This project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The aim was to develop a motivational interviewing training programme that would support contact tracers working with people who tested positive with the COVID-19 virus. The MMIN team worked in collaboration with local authority partners at Wigan Council to develop the initial training package. The training was then tested and further developed with four cohorts of participants (a total of 99 attended including representatives from local authorities, NHS and Public Health England). The programme was evaluated for its potential effectiveness in training and supporting the work of contact tracers and the feasibility of online delivery via Zoom (necessary due to the lockdown restrictions during the pandemic) was also assessed. 

​

A newly published article based on this research "The role of motivational interviewing training in supporting COVID-19 contact tracers" (2023) explores how motivational interviewing (MI) training might benefit the practice of COVID-19 contact tracers with transferability to other areas of infection control.