To initiate the conversation - Public health nurses' experiences of working with obesity in persons with mobility disability.
Marianne Holmgren, Magnus Sandberg, Gerd Ahlström
PMID 31115062WHAT IT FOUND
Public health nurses hesitated to start obesity conversations with patients with mobility disability because they feared offending them.
They said prior trust, related medical problems, time, and physiotherapist or dietician support made it easier.
Key findings
01Public health nurses hesitated to start obesity conversations because they feared offending patients, and this was not specific to mobility disability.
02Nurses said prior trust, continuous contact, and obesity linked to medical problems made the conversation easier.
03Nurses identified physiotherapist and dietician support as important, but said group physical activity was not routinely offered.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only public health nurses were interviewed, not patients, families, physiotherapists, dieticians or physicians. The sample was small and similar: nine female and one male public health nurses, and the researchers judged that new content had stopped emerging after nine interviews. The nurses defined mobility disability from their own perceptions, which may have varied. The theory was developed in southern Sweden and has not been tested empirically. The study reports nurses' experiences and themes, not patient outcomes or tested effects of counselling.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the nurses' reported supports as evidence that obesity counselling improves weight, activity, or health in mobility disability. The study interviewed nurses, not patients, and the theory has not been tested empirically.