TITLE:
Obesity communication among patients by health professionals: Findings from the Weight Care Project
AUTHORS:
S. Anne Moorhead, Vivien E. Coates, Alison M. Gallagher, Geraldine Nolan, Kathy Murphy, Diane E. Hazlett
KEYWORDS:
Obesity; Communication; Health Professionals; Patients
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.5 No.8C,
August
23,
2013
ABSTRACT: Obesity is
on the increase worldwide
and is a major global public health problem. In an increasingly obesogenic environment, it’s important that
health professionals are equipped to identify and address obesity issues within
their clinical practice. As part of
the Weight Care Project, the aim of this
study was to explore the obesity-related communication issues for primary care and community-based health
professionals. The study
design was a quantitative survey, which was completed by 382 primary care and community-based health
professionals across Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland working with
adults and children. Key findings included that the majority of the
health professionals (86%) recognized
having a role in giving obesity advice, acknowledged that in clinical practice
communication of obesity messages is both complex and challenging (81%), and reported difficulty in sensitively addressing
obesity issues (27%). The
health professionals surveyed stated that they communicate obesity messages
to their patients using a range of different
methods, mainly verbally to individuals, leaflets and factsheets. Numerous
benefits of communicating obesity messages were reported; the main one was interacting with patients to build trust.
Identified barriers to commu
nication were:
limited time in patient consultations, restricted access to appropriate information, and not sure where to access appropriate resources. Communication
needed be reported by the health professionals included provision of greater
resources, more information on obesity management and prevention, followed by
health communication training, and clear and consistent messages. Significant
differences were observed, including significantly much younger health
professionals considered their role to provide obesity advice (P = 0.025). It is clear from this study
that health professionals view as important the need to be given information on
“what” and “how” to communicate with their patients on obesity. This study
highlights that health professionals need continued support to enable them to
effectively address weight-related issues in a sensitive manner that is
acceptable to the patient.