scholarly journals Leveraging Text Messaging and Mobile Technology to Support Pediatric Obesity-Related Behavior Change: A Qualitative Study Using Parent Focus Groups and Interviews

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Sharifi ◽  
Eileen M Dryden ◽  
Christine M Horan ◽  
Sarah Price ◽  
Richard Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Behavior Change ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Pediatric Obesity ◽  
Text Messaging

Informing the Adaptation and Implementation of a Lifestyle Modification Program in Hispanics: A Qualitative Study Among Low-Income Hispanic Adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 204-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francia G. Portacio ◽  
Pamela Botero ◽  
Sara M. St. George ◽  
Mark Stoutenberg
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Behavior Change ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Lifestyle Modification ◽  
Healthy Behaviors ◽  
Hispanic Adults

Low-income Hispanics are a hard to reach population that face unique challenges in achieving behavior change. Understanding such challenges can inform the adaptation of lifestyle behavioral interventions and increase participant engagement. This descriptive qualitative study aimed to (1) inform lifestyle modification programs focused on improving the physical activity and healthy eating of low-income Hispanic adults and (2) explore potential gender differences necessary for consideration. Five gender-specific focus groups were conducted with Hispanic adults from a free community clinic ( n = 45, 64% women, 53.1 ± 10.1 years). Sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using a general inductive approach. The qualitative software program Dedoose was used to perform a content analysis. Emergent themes included topics of interest, methods of increasing engagement in healthy behaviors, and the delivery of lifestyle modification programs. Men expressed greater interest in physical activity, while women desired to learn about healthy eating. Men described the importance of physician communication, while women focused on the role of social support as facilitators for participating in such programs. Both genders described education as key to behavior change and viewed text messaging as a valuable complement. Results from this study can inform the adaptation of lifestyle modification programs and increase the engagement of low-income Hispanic populations.

scholarly journals Mobile health assisted self-monitoring is acceptable for supporting weight loss in rural men: a pragmatic randomized controlled feasibility trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine M. Eisenhauer ◽  
Fabiana Brito ◽  
Kevin Kupzyk ◽  
Aaron Yoder ◽  
Fabio Almeida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Text Messaging ◽  
Retention Rate ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Feasibility Trial ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Technology Application

Abstract Background Addressing overweight and obesity among men at-risk for obesity-related diseases and disability in rural communities is a public health issue. Commercial smartphone applications (apps) that promote self-monitoring for weight loss are widely available. Evidence is lacking regarding what support is required to enhance user engagement with and effectiveness of those technologies. Pragmatically comparing these apps effectiveness, including rural men’s desired forms of support when using them, can lead to greater weight loss intervention impact and reach. This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile technology application applied differently across two groups for weight loss. Methods In a two-armed, pragmatic pilot feasibility study, 80 overweight and obese men aged 40–69 were randomized using a 1:1 ratio to either an enhanced Mobile Technology Plus (MT+) intervention or a basic Mobile Technology (MT) intervention. The MT+ group had an enhanced smartphone app for self-monitoring (text messaging, discussion group, Wi-Fi scale) whereas the MT group received a basic app that allowed self-monitoring logging only. Assessments were collected at baseline, 3 and 6 months. App logs were analyzed to track engagement and adherence to self-monitoring. Acceptability was assessed via focus groups. Analysis included descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Results Of 80 men recruited, forty were allocated to each arm. All were included in the primary analysis. Recruitment ended after 10 months with a 97.5 and 92.5% (3 month, 6 month) retention rate. Over 90% of men reported via survey and focus groups that Lose-It app and smart scale (MT+) was an acceptable way to self-monitor weight, dietary intake and physical activity. Adherence to daily app self-monitoring of at least 800 dietary calories or more (reported respectively as MT+, MT) was positive with 73.4, 51.6% tracking at least 5 days a week. Adherence to tracking activity via recorded steps four or more days weekly was positive, 87.8, 64.6%. Men also adhered to self-weighing at least once weekly, 64, 46.3%. At 6 months, an observed mean weight loss was 7.03 kg (95% CI: 3.67, 10.39) for MT+ group and 4.14 kg (95% CI: 2.22, 6.06) for MT group, with 42.9 and 34.2% meeting ≥5% weight loss, respectively. No adverse events were reported. Conclusions This National Institutes of Health-funded pilot study using mobile technologies to support behavior change for weight loss was found to be feasible and acceptable among midlife and older rural men. The interventions demonstrated successful reductions in weight, noting differing adherence to lifestyle behaviors of eating, monitoring and activity between groups, with men in the MT+ having more favorable results. These findings will be used to inform the design of a larger scale, clinical trial. Trial registration The trial was prospectively registered with ClinicalTrials NCT03329079. 11/1/2017.

Health Behavior Change and Life Course: A Qualitative Study Using Focus-Groups

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Martin Loef ◽  
Elzbieta DzigalMielnik ◽  
Harald Walach
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Health Behavior ◽  
Behavior Change ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Health Behavior Change

scholarly journals Health care providers’ weight management practices for adolescent obesity and alignment with clinical practice guidelines: a multi-centre, qualitative study

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kebbe ◽  
A. Perez ◽  
A. Buchholz ◽  
S. D. Scott ◽  
T.-L. F. McHugh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Weight Management ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Clinical Practice Guidelines ◽  
Practice Guidelines ◽  
Pediatric Obesity ◽  
Care Providers

Abstract Background Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) include evidence-based recommendations for managing obesity in adolescents. However, information on how health care providers (HCPs) implement these recommendations in day-to-day practice is limited. Our objectives were to explore how HCPs deliver weight management health services to adolescents with obesity and describe the extent to which their reported practices align with recent CPGs for managing pediatric obesity. Methods From July 2017 to January 2018, we conducted a qualitative study that used purposeful sampling to recruit HCPs with experience in adolescent weight management from multidisciplinary, pediatric weight management clinics in Edmonton and Ottawa, Canada. Data were collected using audio-recorded focus groups (4–6 participants/group; 60–90 min in length). We applied inductive, semantic thematic analysis and the congruent methodological approach to analyze our data, which included transcripts, field notes, and memos. Qualitative data were compared to recent CPGs for pediatric obesity that were published by the Endocrine Society in 2017. Of the 12 obesity ‘treatment-related’ recommendations, four were directly relevant to the current study. Results Data were collected through three focus groups with 16 HCPs (n = 10 Edmonton; n = 6 Ottawa; 94% female; 100% Caucasian), including dietitians, exercise specialists, nurses, pediatricians, psychologists, and social workers. We identified three main themes that we later compared with CPG recommendations, including: (i) discuss realistic expectations regarding weight management (e.g., shift focus from weight to health; explore family cohesiveness; foster delayed vs instant gratification), (ii) personalize weight management (e.g., address personal barriers to change; consider developmental readiness), and (iii) exhibit non-biased attitudes and practices (e.g., de-emphasize individual causes of obesity; avoid making assumptions about lifestyle behaviors based on weight). Based on these qualitative findings, HCPs applied all four CPG recommendations in their practices. Conclusions HCPs provided practical insights into what and how they delivered weight management for adolescents, which included operationalizing relevant CPG recommendations in their practices.

59. General medicine residents' perception of the mini-CEXs

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
S. Malhotra ◽  
R. Hatala ◽  
C.-A. Courneya
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Medical Education ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
General Medicine ◽  
Clinical History ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Medical Teacher ◽  
The Impact

The mini-CEX is a 30 minute observed clinical encounter. It can be done in the outpatient, inpatient or emergency room setting. It strives to look at several parameters including a clinical history, physical, professionalism and overall clinical competence. Trainees are rated using a 9-point scoring system: 1-3 unsatisfactory, 4-6 satisfactory and 7-9 superior. Eight months after the introduction of the mini-CEX to the core University of British Columbia Internal Medicine Residents, a one hour semi-structured focus group for residents in each of the three years took place. The focus groups were conducted by an independent moderator, audio-recorded and transcribed. Using a phenomenological approach the comments made by the focus groups participants were read independently by three authors, organized into major themes. In doing so, several intriguing common patterns were revealed on how General Medicine Residents perceive their experience in completing a mini-CEX. The themes include Education, Assessment and Preparation for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Internal Medicine exam. Resident learners perceived that the mini-CEX process provided insight into their clinical strengths and weaknesses. Focus group participants favored that the mini-CEX experience will benefit them in preparation, and successful completion of their licensing exam. Daelmans HE, Overmeer RM, van der Hem-Stockroos HH, Scherpbier AJ, Stehouwer CD, van der Vleuten CP. In-training assessment: qualitative study of effects on supervision and feedback in an undergraduate clinical rotation. Medical Education 2006; 40(1):51-8. De Lima AA, Henquin R, Thierer J, Paulin J, Lamari S, Belcastro F, Van der Vleuten CPM. A qualitative study of the impact on learning of the mini clinical evaluation exercise in postgraduate training. Medical Teacher January 2005; 27(1):46-52. DiCicco-Bloom B, Crabtree BF. The Qualitative Research Interview. Medical Education 2006; 40:314-32.

Perceived Facilitators and Barriers to Implementation of a Decision Support Tool for Adolescent Depression and Suicidality Screening: A Qualitative Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Radovic ◽  
Nathan Anderson ◽  
Megan Hamm ◽  
Brandie George-Milford ◽  
Carrie Fascetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Depression Screening ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Adolescent Parent ◽  
Barriers To Implementation

BACKGROUND Screening Wizard (SW) is a technology-based decision support tool aimed at guiding primary care providers (PCPs) to respond to depression and suicidality screens in adolescents. Separate screens assess adolescents’ and parents’ reports on mental health symptoms, treatment preferences, and potential treatment barriers. A detailed summary is provided to PCPs, also identifying adolescent-parent discrepancies. The goal of SW is to enhance decision making to increase utilization of evidence-based treatments. OBJECTIVE We describe a multi-stakeholder qualitative study with adolescents, parents, and providers to understand potential barriers to implementation of SW. METHODS We interviewed 11 parents and 11 adolescents, and conducted 2 focus groups with 17 healthcare providers (PCPs, nurses, therapists, staff) across 2 pediatric practices. Participants described previous experiences with screening for depression and were shown a mock-up of SW and asked for feedback. Interviews and focus groups were transcribed verbatim, and codebooks inductively developed based on content. Transcripts were double-coded, and disagreements adjudicated to full agreement. Completed coding was used to produce thematic analyses of interviews and focus groups. RESULTS We identified five main themes across the interviews and focus groups: (1) parents, adolescents, and pediatric PCPs agree that depression screening should occur in pediatric primary care; (2) there is concern that accurate self-disclosure does not always occur during depression screening; (3) Screening Wizard is viewed as a tool that could facilitate depression screening, and which might encourage more honesty in screening responses; (4) parents, adolescents and providers do not want Screening Wizard to replace mental health discussions with providers; and (5) providers want to maintain autonomy in treatment decisions. CONCLUSIONS We identified that providers, parents, and adolescents all have concerns with current screening practices, mainly regarding inaccurate self-disclosure. They recognized value in SW as a computerized tool that may elicit more honest responses and identify adolescent-parent discrepancies. Surprisingly, providers did not want the SW report to include treatment recommendations, and all groups did not want the SW report to replace conversations with the PCP about depression. While SW was originally developed as a treatment decision algorithm, this qualitative study has led us to remove this component, and instead focus on aspects identified as most useful by all groups. We hope that this initial qualitative work will improve future implementation of SW.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Study of Motivators, Strategies, Barriers, and Learning Needs Related to Healthy Cooking during Pregnancy

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 2395
Author(s):  
Travertine Garcia ◽  
Kerith Duncanson ◽  
Vanessa A. Shrewsbury ◽  
Julia A. Wolfson
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
Cooking Skills ◽  
Mother And Child ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
Meal Planning ◽  
Skills Education

Nutrition during pregnancy has lifelong impacts on the health of mother and child. However, this life stage presents unique challenges to healthy cooking and eating. Cooking interventions show promising results, but often lack theoretical basis and rigorous evaluation. The objective of this formative, qualitative study was to explore motivators, strategies, and barriers related to healthy cooking during pregnancy. Pregnant individuals’ preferences for a cooking education program were also explored. We conducted five focus groups with pregnant individuals (n = 20) in Southeast Michigan in 2019. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, then double coded by two members of the research team. Mean gestational age was 18.3 ± 9.6 weeks. Common motivators included feeding other children, avoiding pregnancy complications, promoting fetal growth, and avoiding foodborne illness. Challenges included pregnancy symptoms, navigating nutrition recommendations, mental energy of meal planning, family preferences, and time constraints. Strategies employed were meal planning and including a variety of foods. Participants identified organizational strategies, recipes, nutrition information, and peer support as important components of a cooking intervention during pregnancy. This study characterized multiple challenges to healthy home cooking during pregnancy, providing novel insight to inform the development of cooking skills education programs during this important life stage.

scholarly journals Rethinking success, integrity, and culture in research (part 1) — a multi-actor qualitative study on success in science

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noémie Aubert Bonn ◽  
Wim Pinxten
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Students

Abstract Background Success shapes the lives and careers of scientists. But success in science is difficult to define, let alone to translate in indicators that can be used for assessment. In the past few years, several groups expressed their dissatisfaction with the indicators currently used for assessing researchers. But given the lack of agreement on what should constitute success in science, most propositions remain unanswered. This paper aims to complement our understanding of success in science and to document areas of tension and conflict in research assessments. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with policy makers, funders, institution leaders, editors or publishers, research integrity office members, research integrity community members, laboratory technicians, researchers, research students, and former-researchers who changed career to inquire on the topics of success, integrity, and responsibilities in science. We used the Flemish biomedical landscape as a baseline to be able to grasp the views of interacting and complementary actors in a system setting. Results Given the breadth of our results, we divided our findings in a two-paper series, with the current paper focusing on what defines and determines success in science. Respondents depicted success as a multi-factorial, context-dependent, and mutable construct. Success appeared to be an interaction between characteristics from the researcher (Who), research outputs (What), processes (How), and luck. Interviewees noted that current research assessments overvalued outputs but largely ignored the processes deemed essential for research quality and integrity. Interviewees suggested that science needs a diversity of indicators that are transparent, robust, and valid, and that also allow a balanced and diverse view of success; that assessment of scientists should not blindly depend on metrics but also value human input; and that quality should be valued over quantity. Conclusions The objective of research assessments may be to encourage good researchers, to benefit society, or simply to advance science. Yet we show that current assessments fall short on each of these objectives. Open and transparent inter-actor dialogue is needed to understand what research assessments aim for and how they can best achieve their objective. Study Registration osf.io/33v3m.

scholarly journals Exploring the enablers and barriers to implementing the Medication Appropriateness Tool for Comorbid Health conditions during Dementia (MATCH-D) criteria in Australia: a qualitative study

BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. e017906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Theresa Page ◽  
Rhonda Marise Clifford ◽  
Kathleen Potter ◽  
Liza Seubert ◽  
Andrew J McLachlan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
External Validation ◽  
Medication Use ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Educational Tool ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Consensus Guidance ◽  
Medication Appropriateness

ObjectivesThe Medication Appropriateness Tool for Comorbid Health conditions in Dementia (MATCH-D) criteria provide expert consensus guidance about medication use for people with dementia. This study aimed to identify enablers and barriers to implementing the criteria in practice.SettingParticipants came from both rural and metropolitan communities in two Australian states.ParticipantsFocus groups were held with consumers, general practitioners, nurses and pharmacists. Outcomes: data were analysed thematically.ResultsNine focus groups were conducted. Fifty-five participants validated the content of MATCH-D, appraising them as providing patient-centred principles of care. Participants identified potential applications (including the use of MATCH-D as a discussion aid or educational tool for consumers about medicines) and suggested supporting resources.ConclusionParticipants provided insights into applying MATCH-D in practice and suggested resources to be included in an accompanying toolkit. These data provide external validation of MATCH-D and an empiric basis for their translation to practice. Following resource development, we plan to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of implementation in practice.

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