Weight Bias: Understanding and Addressing Weight Bias in Healthcare

Overview:

Bias against individuals with overweight and obesity occurs in healthcare, workplace settings, schools and interpersonal relationships, and impacts people across the weight spectrum.  Weight bias refers to the negative attitudes and discrimination toward individuals based on their body weight.  Weight bias has been associated with adverse health outcomes including anxiety, stress, depression, low self-esteem and body image issues. In this presentation Dr. Avery will explore how weight bias s a problem, and how promoting education by improving knowledge on the multifactorial etiology of obesity, and understanding the negative implications of weight bias- are the initial steps in addressing the problem.

Objectives:

1. Define weight bias and contextualize in primary care

2. Define and apply the multifactorial etiology of obesity

3.  Discuss the prevalence and significance of weight stigma in healthcare settings

4. Grasp the impact of weight bias on the health outcomes and identify ways of mitigating weight bias in healthcare settings

Richel Avery, MD, FAAFP
Associate Medical Director UT Health Primary Care Clinic MARC
Associate Professor / Clinical
Department of Family & Community Medicine
UT Health San Antonio

Financial Disclosures:

Richel Avery, MD, FAAFP has no financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

The Family & Community Medicine Professional Development and Grand Rounds Committee members (Mark Nadeau, MD, Marcy Wiemers, MD, Maria Del Pilar Montañez Villacampa, MD, Christine Song, DO, Nehman Andry, MD, Gabriela Lopez, PsyD, Maureen Alvarado, DO, Yun Shi, MD, Stacy Ogbeide, PsyD, Inez I. Cruz, PhD, and Nichole Rubio) have no financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

The Family & Community Medicine Professional Development and Grand Rounds Committee member Carlos Roberto Jaén, MD has disclosed he receives royalties from General Practice and Family Medicine for being UpToDate Editor-in-Chief.

Credits:

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (1.00 hours), Non-Physician Participation Credit (1.00 hours)

Target Audience:

Specialties – Primary Care; Family Medicine
Faculty, residents, other health care providers and staff from our department; physicians and health care providers from San Antonio and South Texas; and medical students in our third-year clerkship and fourth year rotations.

Accreditation:

The UT Health Science Center San Antonio is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation:

The UT Health Science Center San Antonio designates this live activity up to a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nurses and other healthcare professionals will receive a Certificate of Attendance. For information on applicability and acceptance, please consult your professional licensing board.

For activity related questions, please contact:
Name: Nichole Rubio- FCM Grand Rounds Coordinator
Email: rubion@uthscsa.edu

For CME general questions, please contact
Ph: (210) 567-4445
Email: cme@uthscsa.edu