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Digital consultations for weight management in the NHS: A qualitative evaluation
Shepherd, Karen McArdle, Paul Tellwright, Henry
Shepherd, Karen
McArdle, Paul
Tellwright, Henry
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Epub Date
Issue Date
2023-04-14
Submitted date
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Abstract
Receiving digital healthcare consultations for weight management, in place of in-person appointments, has proliferated in recent years, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the present study was to investigate patients’ experiences of digital weight management services (DWMS) provided by the National Health Service (NHS). Particular emphasis was placed on examining the perceived benefits and limitations of DWMS so as to identify potential means of improving provision. Sixteen patients (eight male; eight female) accessing digital consultations at one of two West Midlands (UK) NHS trusts, participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed via thematic analysis. We identified three overarching themes and associated sub-themes that reflect the perceived benefits and limitations of service provision as identified by patients. These were technology acceptability (sub-themes ‘challenges’, ‘requirements/facilitators’, and ‘beneficial features’); treatment acceptability (sub-themes ‘treatment features’, ‘patient attributes’, and ‘practitioner skills’); and treatment efficacy (sub-themes ‘treatment features’, ‘patient attributes’, and ‘practitioner skills’). Themes identified in this study have informed recommendations intended to enhance acceptability of DWMS technology and treatment, potentially encouraging engagement and increasing treatment efficacy. Limitations of the present study and recommendations for further research are also presented.
Citation
Nicholls, W., Lloyd, J., Shepherd, K., McArdle, P. et al. (2023) Digital consultations for weight management in the NHS: A qualitative evaluation, Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, Volume 17(2), Pages 158-165
Publisher
Research Unit
PubMed ID
37062675 (pubmed)
PubMed Central ID
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Type
Journal article
Language
en
Description
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orcp.2023.03.003
Series/Report no.
ISSN
1871-403X
EISSN
1878-0318
ISBN
ISMN
Gov't Doc #
Sponsors
This work was supported by the Association for the Study of Obesity (grant reference: 2104) and the University of Wolverhampton.
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Licence for published version: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International