Views of the public about dental teams delivering weight intervention

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Views of the public on weight management interventions delivered in dental health contexts

  • IRAS ID

    315208

  • Contact name

    Jessica Large

  • Contact email

    j.large@lboro.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    The University of Loughborough

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    The NHS calls for all healthcare staff to work together to promote healthier life choices and reduce disease. Supporting people to reduce their weight to benefit their health is a key goal of the NHS. Dentists already discuss and provide advice on diet, alcohol and smoking as part of usual or routine dental care and some dental practices offer screening for cholesterol and diabetes. We would like to understand the views of the public about whether dental teams should be involved in helping people manage their weight. We will do this by asking dental practices and community networks to send the study questionnaire to their patients either by letter or by sending a link to the questionnaire in a text/email. The opportunity to complete questionnaires whilst in the waiting room of dental practices may be preferred by some practices. The questionnaire will seek public opinion on the acceptability of dental teams measuring patients’ height, weight and checking people’s body mass index. Other questions ask participants to share some socio-demographic information, such as their age, sex and frequency of dental visits, as well as questions asking for participants to indicate which weight interventions offered in a dental setting would be acceptable to them and whether they would support wider medical screening for cholesterol and diabetes. We hope to get at least 2000 completed questionnaires.

  • REC name

    London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    22/PR/0832

  • Date of REC Opinion

    18 Jul 2022

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion