Examining Reach and Implementation of an Evidence-based Weight Loss Program in Rural Primary Care

Summary

The majority of American adults do not meet recommended guidelines for healthy eating or physical activity and are overweight or obese, which puts them at risk for chronic disease, poor quality of life, and increased personal and public health care costs. Despite the development and success of a number of evidence-based weight management interventions, these programs have lacked systematic and consistent translation in clinical practice or community services. Further, few of these interventions have been tested in rural populations, where there is a disproportionally high number of obese individuals, and resources to support such programs are lacking. Primary care clinics have the necessary resources to support such programs, and might be the ideal setting to intervene and address concerns of weight loss and management in rural areas. The intent of the proposed project is to increase the capacity of primary care in rural Nebraska to translate evidence-based weight management approaches into practice, improve the speed of uptake and the likelihood of sustainability, and reach a large and representative group of individuals. To achieve this, the investigators will 1) conduct a limited effectiveness and feasibility study to determine impact on weight loss of 100 overweight and obese adult patients in a rural Nebraska primary care clinic, and 2) test multiple strategies for recruitment to determine best practices for program reach. The primary outcome for program effectiveness is percent body weight loss, and the primary outcome for program feasibility is reach, defined as the proportion of individuals who enroll in the program per each recruitment strategy. The proposed project provides a means of implementing an evidence-based weight loss program in rural Nebraska, has the capacity to create meaningful change in patient weight status, and has the potential to influence future efforts to translate evidence-based weight management programs into rural primary care practice.

Conditions

• Obesity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

IncentaHealth

IncentaHealth is a comprehensive, behavioral weight management program designed to help individuals initiate and maintain weight loss. Individuals participate in the IncentaHealth program from their homes, receive program information electronically through daily emails and through a smartphone app for the duration of the study, and have the option to receive text messages and speak with health coaches over the telephone. Participants in this study will be enrolled in the IncentaHealth program for 12 months, and will engage with health coaching, tracking of body weight, and are provided a number of resources for healthy living throughout the 12 months.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• American Heart Association

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Nebraska

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Gwenndolyn C Porter, MS · University of Nebraska

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

19 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-10-24

Primary Completion

2020-05-21

Completion

2020-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations