Abstract
Background
Obesity is an increasing health challenge. People who are obese experience lower quality of life because of psychosocial barriers and physical limitations when participating in daily life. Weight loss programs still fail in supporting sustainable weight loss. One reason might be the narrow focus on diet and exercise instead of
unhealthy habits in daily life. Our long‐term goal is to develop an evidence‐based rehabilitation that supports people with obesity to reach a meaningful life both during and after a weight loss process. The program is called Danish Obesity Intervention Trial (DO:IT). As part of developing DO:IT we need to understand best practice from the perspective of the health professionals as they are the once with important “hands‐on” experiences for the development of an occupational therapy rehabilitation for obese patients.
Purpose
The purpose was to explore the experiences with what works in a weight loss process in the Danish municipalities and the wishes for how a future weight loss process should be; both from the views of health professionals.
Method and content
A phenomenological‐hermeneutical qualitative study was performed using semi‐structured interviews with health professionals conducting weight loss programs in Danish municipalities. The interviews were conducted in the spring 2018 and was analyzed using qualitative content analyzing.
Perspectives
The health professionals stated a holistic approach. They turned the focus away from weight loss related to illness to concerns about wellbeing. They wanted to build up self‐confidence by including meaningful activities and social support. Based on these results together with evidence it seems essential to include social relations and daily life in the DO:IT program to reach a balanced life both during and after a weight loss.
Obesity is an increasing health challenge. People who are obese experience lower quality of life because of psychosocial barriers and physical limitations when participating in daily life. Weight loss programs still fail in supporting sustainable weight loss. One reason might be the narrow focus on diet and exercise instead of
unhealthy habits in daily life. Our long‐term goal is to develop an evidence‐based rehabilitation that supports people with obesity to reach a meaningful life both during and after a weight loss process. The program is called Danish Obesity Intervention Trial (DO:IT). As part of developing DO:IT we need to understand best practice from the perspective of the health professionals as they are the once with important “hands‐on” experiences for the development of an occupational therapy rehabilitation for obese patients.
Purpose
The purpose was to explore the experiences with what works in a weight loss process in the Danish municipalities and the wishes for how a future weight loss process should be; both from the views of health professionals.
Method and content
A phenomenological‐hermeneutical qualitative study was performed using semi‐structured interviews with health professionals conducting weight loss programs in Danish municipalities. The interviews were conducted in the spring 2018 and was analyzed using qualitative content analyzing.
Perspectives
The health professionals stated a holistic approach. They turned the focus away from weight loss related to illness to concerns about wellbeing. They wanted to build up self‐confidence by including meaningful activities and social support. Based on these results together with evidence it seems essential to include social relations and daily life in the DO:IT program to reach a balanced life both during and after a weight loss.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 2021 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
| Event | Rehabilitation World Congress:: Moving Societies - Aarhus, Denmark Duration: 7 Sept 2021 → 9 Sept 2021 |
Conference
| Conference | Rehabilitation World Congress: |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Denmark |
| City | Aarhus |
| Period | 07/09/21 → 09/09/21 |