Birgitta Adolfsson

Behavioral Approaches to Treating Obesity

Birgitta Adolfsson

As governments and health care systems direct more attention and resources to treating the rising rates of obesity worldwide, one thing has become very clear: obesity is best treated as a chronic condition. The most effective approach to care is often a behavioral one, in which health care providers and patients rely on teamwork, respect, and conversation to motivate lifestyle change. This collaborative model is essential because decisions about care ultimately rest with the patient. Working together, care providers and patients can help patients learn to make healthy choices throughout their lives.An effective and detailed guide for health care providers, Behavioral Approaches to Treating Obesity embraces this understanding about treating obesity and explains how to help patients direct their own lifestyle change. With this self-directed approach to clinical care, patients assume more responsibility for their treatment plans, whereas care providers learn to take on the role of guide or counselor.In this book, readers will find strategies for encouraging patients and equipping them for lifestyle change. There is practical advice on many issues and helpful guides for any of a number of difficult scenarios. Some of the features of this guide include:arranging the physical environment of a clinic to accommodate obese patientsbuilding a program to meet the needs of patients in a chronic-care treatment plancase studies to illuminate key issues in behavior changecharts and tables to help implement behavioral approaches in treatmentstep-by-step instructions on helping patients begin lifestyle changedescriptions of how to design and organize an obesity treatment programuseful methods of building a collaborative health care teamReaders will start at the beginning, learning to understand the problems of obesity and risks it poses to the people who suffer from the condition. Then the methods of treatment for obesity are presented, along with analysis of these methods and their effectiveness. In the end, the authors conclude that a new paradigm of care is needed to successfully treat obesity.The next section spends some time redefining the roles of health care providers in providing a collaborative care model of behavioral change therapy. The authors describe the new roles for health care providers and how to cope with those changes, how to build their team, how to create a supportive environment, and then how to structure the care process.The third and final section provides health care providers with the tools they need to introduce behavioral self-care in the clinical environment. This is a step-by-step process, and each step is further explained using case studies from the authors' experiences.The book is completed with an extensive resources section and an updated reference list to promote further research.