Experiences of Participants in a Commercial Weight Loss Scheme
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Outcomes and experiences of older adults and primary-care professionals in an innovative referral scheme to a commercial weight-loss programme
IRAS ID
207088
Contact name
Nigel Hart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 2 days
Research summary
Obesity is a growing global health concern, and is associated with an increased risk of death and disease. It is one of the largest modifiable threats to public health in developed countries and if current trends continue, almost 9 in 10 adults will be overweight or obese by 2050. Weight related morbidity already places a significant burden on the NHS.
The Northern Ireland Health and Social Wellbeing Survey in 2010/2011 indicated that almost two thirds of the NI population are overweight or obese. In 2014 NICE published recommendations on the management of obesity. These guidelines specifically mention weight management programmes. Research has already shown such schemes are beneficial in terms of successful weight loss, but little is known about their role in “difficult to reach” groups - including older adults, or about longer term outcomes.
In 2012, the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) funded a pilot weight loss referral scheme, allowing members of the primary care team to refer patients for funded sessions with participating commercial weight loss providers.Demographic details, attendance and weight records returned to a central database. Of those referred, 1111 (22.1% of total) were aged 60 years or older.
At time of enrolment to the scheme, participants consented for further follow-up at a later date to assess success of the scheme.
We plan to assess the experiences of older adults who took part in this pilot - looking at motivators and barriers to taking part in such programmes. We also hope to research the experiences of those in the primary care team who referred them. Finally we will also use our cohort population to assess the long-term success of older adults (>60years of age) who participated in the scheme, in terms of whether they have managed to maintain any weight-loss they achieved through the scheme 3years later.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0352
Date of REC Opinion
12 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion