SUPPORT Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How the local health care system can support Health Care Professionals and other practitioners working in primary care to conduct healthier weight conversations with parents of primary school age children
IRAS ID
277128
Contact name
Miranda Pallan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 30 days
Research summary
Healthcare Professionals working in community settings have a role in supporting adults and children with excess weight to change their eating and physical activity behaviours. Previous research suggests that healthcare professionals are reluctant to have conversations with parents about their children achieving a healthier weight. They perceive several barriers to having these conversations, which include: lack of time, confidence and knowledge; fear of damaging their existing patient-professional relationship; difficulty in raising the issue when the parent is consulting for another reason; and lack of information on the weight category that the child falls into.
In this study we aim to identify how local health systems can support these healthcare professionals to have healthier weight conversations with parents of primary school-age children. We will ask GPs, Primary Care Nurses, and School Nurses who work in ethnically diverse areas or areas of high social and economic disadvantage to take part in interviews or focus groups. We aim to have at least 10 participants from each group. We will explore with the participants their experiences of having these conversations with parents. We will ask about the difficulties that participants have encountered, the perceived challenges, the factors that help them to have these conversations, the potential role of routinely collected information on children’s weight and height, the need for and access to training and skills development, and their views on how they can best be supported to have these conversations. We will ask participants to consider certain clinical scenarios to further explore these areas.We will use the resulting information to develop recommendations for action. We will invite representatives from across the local health system to a workshop, and ask them to prioritise these recommendations. The prioritised list will be shared widely across all relevant agencies.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A