Last month, the STOP Obesity Alliance launched the new Why Weight website, complete with a series of educational videos and information for health care providers on beginning productive conversations with patients about weight. This website serves as a companion piece to STOP's guide, Why Weight? A Guide to Discussing Obesity & Health With Your Patients. The goal of both of these tools is to help providers build a safe and trusting environment with patients to facilitate open and productive conversations about weight. This series is part of a larger STOP effort to improve patient experience and educate health care providers.

Our tool is specifically designed to help providers initiate conversations about weight. However, other organizations also are working to support providers to integrate these conversations into obesity counseling and treatment. For example, last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics partnered with Kognito to create a mobile app known as Change Talk that is designed to help health care professionals navigate challenging conversations with patients and their families. In Change Talk, providers assume the role of a physician in a virtual doctor's office and practice conversations with a simulated mother and son.

The app also allows providers to practice Motivational Interviewing skills to address patient resistance and create actionable opportunities for behavior change. Motivational Interviewing is an evidence-based and patient-centered approach to change health-related behaviors. Using a patient's own goals, values, and preferences, providers can enhance intrinsic motivation through open communication and shared decision making.

Some of the other techniques that users can practice include shared agenda-setting, open-ended questions, reflective listening, and affirmation and summarizing. In the app, providers practice these skills and help the patient develop a plan of action that both mother and son can carry out. These virtual patients bring their own personalities, emotions and memories to the role play conversation, which helps the user remain mindful of the sensitivity surrounding weight-related discussions. Users receive personalized feedback from coaches and are able to repeat conversations to try new strategies. 

This tool and others can be found on our Why Weight website. While the Why Weight guide has a specific focus on opening the conversation, our new website is intended to address more broadly concerns providers face throughout all stages of obesity counseling. We will continue to add tools to the website that help providers with next steps after an initial conversation. We anticipate that this website will build the capacity of providers to treat obesity and improve patient experiences.

I hope you will take the time to explore the Why Weight website and share with your colleagues. We look forward to hearing any feedback you receive about the new website and videos.