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ASCO summit: Multidisciplinary collaboration needed to prevent, treat obesity
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Provider and public education, research and advocacy should be the focus of multidisciplinary efforts to prevent and treat obesity, according to recommendations developed from an ASCO summit on obesity.
The recommendations — developed from the Summit on Addressing Obesity through Multidisciplinary Collaboration, a meeting held by ASCO in 2016 with representatives from 18 organizations for various medical specialties — respond to current issues providers face in addressing obesity prevention and treatment and identify priorities to manage the increasing presence of obesity and its affect or morbidity and mortality.
“Many health care organizations have focused on obesity prevention and management for some time, creating education, tools and resources for their respective provider communities,” Jennifer Ligibel, MD, chair of the ASCO Obesity and Energy Subcommittee, and lead author of the recommendations, said in a press release. “We believe that the tactics developed at this summit can serve as a blueprint for delivering care with a focus on obesity not only in oncology, but also in the context of many other diseases and conditions.”
Obesity increases the risk for noncommunicable disease, including various cancers, stroke and diabetes. Obesity also increases mortality risk among patients with these diseases. Therefore, increasing rates of obesity present broad implications for public health, patients and providers.
Provider education and training
The guidelines recommend more education and training of health care providers to avoid duplicated efforts and to take advantage of existing resources.
Recommendations include to:
- establish a core set of competencies for all health care providers related to obesity;
- increase obesity education and training for health care providers-in-training;
- ensure guidelines are consistent and translatable to patient care across the medical spectrum; and
- extend educational offerings to the whole care team.
“There is a need for increased education and training of health care providers at all levels to better prevent and treat obesity,” the authors wrote.
Public education and activation
Encouraging individuals to better their lifestyle, combined with public education, can lead to better prevention and treatment.
Specific recommendations include to:
- increase understanding of optimal messaging to targeted populations;
- engage in joint messaging to the public; and
- jointly develop better methods to connect patients to available resources.
“Providing outreach to patient and public groups through a variety of distribution channels will extend the reach of current public service campaigns and build awareness of the importance of lifestyle factors in maintaining health, including awareness of the benefits of physical activity, even in the absence of weight loss,” the authors wrote.
Research
The lack of communication between providers among specialties limits the development of cross-disciplinary trials and joint databases for investigating various obesity-related endpoints. The recommendations call for:
- evaluation of existing studies and data resources among different organizations to address additional research questions;
- promotion of the creation of ancillary substudies by multidisciplinary research teams;
- finding different funding structures to assist with secondary research; and
- encouraging junior investigators to work in the field by providing funding for post- and predoctoral students as part of large obesity prevention and treatment studies.
“Joint educational efforts also will help assure research findings are disseminated broadly, which, in turn, will help to inform other research questions and spur collaboration based upon existing research resources,” the authors wrote.
Policy and advocacy
To advance policy change and continue existing efforts, advocating at state and federal levels, as well as partnering with government agencies, can ensure obesity prevention remains a public health priority. The group recommends to:
- collaborate to support increased funding for obesity research at the national level;
- advocate for adequate coverage and reimbursement for nutrition and physical activity services and access to physical activity support services;
- establish a “centers of excellence” accreditation for practices that have skills and personnel necessary to deliver optimal obesity care;
- support existing obesity coalitions; and
- leverage the voices of professional organizations to advocate for large systemic changes to environmental contributors to obesity.
“Coordination is needed among provider organizations to send a strong message, working to advance policy change through a collective voice,” the researchers wrote. – by Melinda Stevens
Disclosures: Ligibel reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full article for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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