Investigating the feasibility and acceptability of health psychology-informed obesity training for medical students
Health psychologists have succeeded in identifying theory-congruent behaviour change techniques (BCTs) to prevent and reduce lifestyle-related illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, cancers and diabetes. Obesity management discussions between doctors and patients can be challenging
and are often avoided. Despite a clear training need, it is unknown how best to tailor BCT research findings to inform obesity-management training for future healthcare professionals. The primary objective of this descriptive study was to gather information on the feasibility and acceptability
of delivering and evaluating health psychology-informed obesity training to UK medical students. Medical students (n = 41) attended an obesity management session delivered by GP tutors. Sessions were audio-recorded to enable fidelity checks. Acceptability of training was explored
qualitatively. Tutors consistently delivered training according to the intervention protocol; and students and tutors found the training highly acceptable. This psychology-informed training can be delivered successfully by GP tutors and further research is warranted to explore its efficacy.
Keywords: feasibility and acceptability; health psychology; healthcare training; medical education; obesity
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Manchester Centre for Dermatology Research, Institute of Inflammation and Repair, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK 2: Manchester Medical School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK 3: School of Medicine, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK 4: School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Publication date: 02 April 2016
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