Raising Awareness of Anti-fat Stigma in Healthcare Through Lived Experience Education: A Continuing Professional Development Pilot Study

BMC Medical Education (01/16/2024) Heidebrecht, Christine; Fierheller, Dianne; Martel, Sara; et al.

In an effort to increase awareness of weight-based bias and stigma, researchers created a continuing professional development podcast series that included narrative descriptions of lived experiences with weight bias, stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings. The curriculum, which included seven podcasts and a post-podcast workshop, was piloted with 20 clinicians at a large, urban hospital in Canada. Questionnaires administered after each podcast episode and discussions during the workshop assessed the feasibility, acceptability and learning impact of the podcast series. Overall, most participants considered the podcast series to be both practical and convenient, while the workshop was seen as a good forum for reflection and discussion. In terms of learning impact, participants noted the variety of emotions the podcasts raised and that they led to self-reflection, and they indicated they wanted to update their clinical approaches. Obstacles identified included the widespread use of body mass index as an indicator of risk and requirement for referral, difficulty with hard discussions, defensiveness on the part of clinicians and awkwardness with difficult conversations. Going forward, the researchers said, this curriculum should be tested on a larger scale with health professions trainees and current providers.

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