TAKE 5 This National Obesity Care Week

Take 5 minutes to learn how to talk obesity with your patients, family or friends.

Good communication is essential for a successful patient-provider relationship, but not all doctors talk to their patients about obesity. The topic can be embarrassing, or doctors may not know what to say, or they may assume the patient “is choosing” to be overweight and therefore does not need or want to talk about it.

Wrong!

If you’re a patient, you can start the conversation whenever you’re ready. If you’re a provider, it may be worth your while to take a few minutes to learn how to talk obesity with your patients. Here are a few ways.

1. Ask your colleagues how they start a conversation with their overweight patients. They may have some good opening lines that relieve tension and do not sound accusatory.
   
2. Identify a few patients who have successfully lost weight. Ask them how they did it, what role their healthcare providers played, and what they liked and did not like about how their doctors handled the situation.
   
3. Remind yourself that obesity is a disease. You would not treat a cancer patient as though cancer were their fault; do not treat obese patients as though they chose to be obese.
   
4. Learn to be sensitive. Talk to a few overweight patients to ask them about their preferences for how doctors approach them.
   
5. Remember that each patient is an individual. Any obesity treatment that will be successful needs to fit into their lifestyle. Their obesity occurs in the context of their lives, their food habits, and their family and friends.
   

Ask 5 questions to start a conversation.

Patient or provider, you can get the convo started by asking some questions.

Patient:

1. Here is how I usually eat in a day. Can you make any suggestions to help me lose weight?
   
2. My knees and back have been hurting, and I think it may be related to my weight. Do you have any suggestions for me?
   
3. What kind of weight loss counseling can you refer me to?
   
4. I have been trying to lose weight for years, and it hasn’t worked. Can you please explain how weight loss surgery might help?
   
5. What are the options for weight loss surgery, and where can I go for more information?
   

Provider:

1. Your BMI is in the obese range. How do you feel about that?
   
2. I noticed that you gained/lost weight since I saw you last. Why do you think that happened, and how do you feel about it?
   
3. Do you know some of the health effects of being overweight, and do they make you want to lose weight?
   
4. What have been some of the reasons you feel you have not been able to lose as much weight as you wanted?
   
5. What do you feel I can do to help you lose weight?
   

Know 5 reasons to address obesity.

There are unlimited reasons to address obesity, but healthcare provider or patient, having them in mind can keep them on your priority list. Here are five out of many possible reasons.

1. It kills. Obesity raises the risk for leading causes of death including certain cancers, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
   
2. It hurts. Knee pain, hip pain, low back pain, and arthritis are just some of the painful conditions that can make obese patients suffer every day.
   
3. It’s embarrassing. Obese individuals can go through life feeling the stigma of their disease. Others often judge them unfairly based on their appearance.
   
4. It’s expensive. How much do patients and providers spend on medications and obesity-related treatments? Employers even discriminate based on obesity, even though it is technically illegal.
   
5. It’s limiting. Obesity can make patients miss out on family vacations, and even trips to the movies or a restaurant if they cannot fit in the seat.
   
6. It’s treatable – so there is no reason to ignore it! Any amount of weight from a little to the amount expected with weight loss surgery can improve health, life expectancy, quality of life, and self-confidence.
   

Engage in 5 reasons to inspire action.

What’s in it for you? Why should you inspire action? What are the benefits of improving obesity care?

1. Provider or patient, being healthy lowers costs – think about money saved on prescription medications, doctor’s appointments, and treatment for diabetes complications, strokes, and heart attacks.
   
2. Better care leads to better weight loss.
   
3. Improving obesity care can lead to better overall care when patients and providers form a partnership.
   
4. Better coverage for obesity care increases access so patients can be sure they and their families will get the care they need and deserve.
   
5. Patient or provider, you can win when other providers get the message and work together to solve obesity. So spread the word!
   

Pass this challenge on to five of your friends or colleagues.

Why stop at five, and why stop at friends or colleagues? Tell everyone you know about National Obesity Care Week and how they can help raise awareness to improve obesity care.

So, are you up to the challenge? Healthcare provider, patient, or obesity care advocate, you can be part of it this year. Share in the comments how you’re spreading the word about obesity care and working to improve care for everyone!