Working together in obesity care

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Headshot of Skye McKennon , PharmD, BCPS, CSM-GEI
Skye McKennon
PharmD, BCPS, CSM-GEI
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Introduction/Rationale

This interprofessional education (IPE) activity is designed to prepare healthcare learners to deliver equitable, patient-centered care for individuals with obesity by addressing weight bias, stigma, and ethical practice.

The curriculum integrates the IPEC Core Competency domains:

Values and ethics (VE)

Teams and teamwork (TT)

Roles and responsibilities (RR)

Communication (CC)

These competency domains foster collaborative, respectful, and evidence-based care.Ā 

The central aim is to cultivate clinicians who can provide compassionate, stigma-free care for patients with obesity. This curriculumĀ emphasizes both skill development (e.g., clinical frameworks and communication) and reflective practice (e.g., awareness of implicit and explicit bias).Ā 

References
  1. Lim Y, Haq N, Boster J. Obesity and Comorbid Conditions. StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. StatPearls Publishing LLC.; 2026.Ā 
  2. DeCleene NK, Kahn E, Yuan CW, Gakidou E, Mokdad AH, Murray CJL, et al. U.S. State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity by Race and Ethnicity From 1990 to 2022 and Forecasted to 2035. JAMA. 2026;335(11):975-85.Ā 
  3. Obesity in Washington. Foundation UH 2024;Pages. Accessed at America’s Health Rankings on August 5 2026.Ā 
  4. Podolsky MI, Raquib R, Hempstead K, Stokes AC. Trends in Obesity Care Among U.S. Adults, 2010–2021. Med Care. 2025;63(3):234–40.Ā 
  5. Obesity Management Learning Hub. American College of Physicians. 2026 Accessed on July 8 2026.Ā 
  6. Masood B, Moorthy M. Causes of obesity: a review. Clin Med (Lond). 2023;23(4):284–91.Ā 
  7. Busebee B, Ghusn W, Cifuentes L, Acosta A. Obesity: A Review of Pathophysiology and Classification. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2023;98(12):1842–1857.Ā 
  8. Singh V, Sun J, Cheng S, Kwan AC, Velazquez A. Obesity as a Chronic Disease: A Narrative Review of Evolving Definitions, Management Strategies, and Cardiometabolic Prioritization. Adv Ther. 2025 Nov;42(11):5341–5364.Ā 
  9. Dancause KN, Olszowy KM. Identifying actionable lifestyle risk factors for obesity research and intervention: Challenges and opportunities for Pacific Island health researchers. The Lancet Regional Health—Western Pacific. 2020;4.Ā 
  10. Bannuru RR. Weight stigma and bias: standards of care in overweight and obesity—2025. BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. 2025;13(Suppl 1):e004962.Ā 
  11. Brown A, Flint SW, Batterham RL. Pervasiveness, impact and implications of weight stigma. eClinicalMedicine. 2022;47:101408.Ā 
  12. Phelan SM, Burgess DJ, Yeazel MW, Hellerstedt WL, Griffin JM, van Ryn M. Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity. Obes Rev. 2015;16(4):319–26.Ā 
  13. Liang JW, Buonpane C, Wang S, Salles A. Implicit and explicit weight bias among healthcare professionals. International Journal of Obesity. 2025;49(11):2372–7.Ā 
  14. Alberga AS, Edache IY, Forhan M, Russell-Mayhew S. Weight bias and health care utilization: a scoping review. Prim Health Care Res Dev. 2019;20:e116.Ā 
  15. Ryan L, Coyne R, Heary C, Birney S, Crotty M, Dunne R, et al. Weight stigma experienced by patients with obesity in healthcare settings: A qualitative evidence synthesis. Obes Rev. 2023;24(10):e13606.Ā 
  16. Moore CH, Oliver TL, Randolph J, Dowdell EB. Interventions for reducing weight bias in healthcare providers: An interprofessional systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Obes. 2022;12(6):e12545.Ā 
  17. Sutin AR, Stephan Y, Terracciano A. Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality. Psychol Sci. 2015;26(11):1803-11.Ā 
  18. Prunty A, Hahn A, O’Shea A, Edmonds S, Clark MK. Associations among enacted weight stigma, weight self-stigma, and multiple physical health outcomes, healthcare utilization, and selected health behaviors. Int J Obes (Lond). 2023;47(1):33-8.Ā 
  19. Albury C, Strain WD, Brocq SL, Logue J, Lloyd C, Tahrani A. The importance of language in engagement between health-care professionals and people living with obesity: a joint consensus statement. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 2020;8(5):447–55.Ā 

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Introduction to obesity care

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