Advancing Effective Obesity Communications Proceedings of a Workshop (2020) / Chapter Skim
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3 What Is Working and What Is Challenging in the Obesity Solutions Communications Landscape
3 What Is Working and What Is Challenging in the Obesity Solutions Communications Landscape
Pages 19-32
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From page 19... ...
. In a large sample of men and women interested in or seeking treatment for overweight or obesity, a quantitative linguistics analysis indicated polarized sentiment in discourse overall, and consistently negative sentiment regarding one's own physical and emotional states.
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From page 20... ...
A PATIENT PERSPECTIVE: CUTTING THROUGH THE NOISE Patricia (Patty) Nece, vice chair of the Obesity Action Coalition and chair of its weight bias task force, spoke as an advocate of people living with obesity and shared insights about how obesity communications have resonated with her from a patient perspective.
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From page 21... ...
Some messages are explicit and others are more subtle, she observed, citing examples of the latter: a series of dehumanizing photos in which people with obesity are depicted only from the neck down, as well as statistical reports about obesity disseminated in social media alongside graphics of French fries and donuts. Nece shared that she still carries excess weight despite achieving and maintaining a 100-pound weight loss while working with an obesity medicine specialist, underscoring that personal choice is only one aspect of a complex issue.
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From page 22... ...
She underscored that conveying the real experences of people with obesity can have a powerful effect on transform i ing society's understanding of these people's daily realities, perhaps helping to reduce weight stigma and advance positive change. COUNTERING BIAS IN DEPICTION AND DISCOURSE Brian Dunn, chief behavioral officer at Concentric Health Experience, described how behavioral economic concepts were translated into a marketing campaign that counters weight bias as it advertises a branded
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From page 23... ...
He emphasized that the goal of his organization's campaign is to disseminate its implicit messages with high frequency in the communication sphere, which he said would help counter fundamental attribution error and cultivate a new availability heuristic regarding people with obesity. The diversity of characters and settings in the campaign was carefully shaped to identify with various groups of stakeholders, he explained, and each character's narrative includes elements of a socially rich life.
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From page 24... ...
, he revealed, labeling it a "stunning" near symmetry of positive and negative discourse, contrary to his hypothesis that negative sentiment would be associated with greater seeking of medical treatment to manage weight. He also remarked on the relatively small proportion of the sample with a higher rate of mentioning overweight-obesity keywords, noting that FIGURE 3-1 Polarized sentiment in discourse among men and women interested in or seeking treatment for overweight or obesity.
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From page 25... ...
Gallagher discussed successes and challenges associated with implementing and sustaining effective obesity communications with decision maker and policy maker audiences. Tremendous progress has occurred over the past decade, he observed, in helping federal and state policy makers understand that obesity is a complex, chronic disease warranting patients' access to evidence-based treatment avenues across the care continuum.
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From page 26... ...
Alex Fine, Brian Dunn, Glen Coppersmith, Megan Malone, Anka Gorgiev. Reprinted with permission.
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From page 27... ...
He recognized the Office of Personnel Management's notice to health plans serving federal mployees that noncoverage for obesity treatment must be supported by e clinical rationale; the National Council of Insurance Legislators' policy encouraging state Medicaid, state employee, and state health exchange plans to update their benefit structures to improve access to and coverage of obesity treatment, such as pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery; and the National Lieutenant Governors Association's policy to help reduce obesity stigma, establish statewide obesity councils and task forces, support additional training for current and future health care professionals, and support access to obesity treatment options for state employees and in other publicly funded health care programs. Gallagher provided three examples showing that these efforts spurred changes in coverage policies.
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From page 28... ...
In closing, Gallagher appealed for a leader to champion obesity issues, someone with a personal connection to the condition who can stand up for obesity issues and broaden their national visibility. COMMUNICATION IN CONTEXT: MENTAL MODELS, SALIENCE, AND COMPETING INFORMATION ABOUT OBESITY Brian Southwell, senior director of the Science in the Public Sphere program in the Center for Communication Science at RTI International and adjunct professor and Duke-RTI scholar at Duke University, discussed the complexity of communicating obesity solutions across audiences and amid competing media messages.
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From page 29... ...
Public engagement exists at the inter ection s of laypeople, health and science professionals, and media organization professionals, Southwell observed, noting that on the whole, these groups are earnestly trying to enhance public understanding. Best practices suggest that simply presenting accurate information is not enough, Southwell said, and he appealed for more attention to the dimensions of salience and trust.
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From page 30... ...
Moreover, efforts to correct misperceptions are difficult, he added, because for the debunking of misinformation to be effective, it must achieve exposures similar to those of the original content. Given these insights about misinformation as a misunderstood challenge to public health, Southwell proposed three steps for moving forward: consider the complex interaction among human psychology, new institutional norms, governance structures, and various systems within the landscape; monitor and seek to understand, rather than prejudging, the public information environments that contribute to collective public understanding on an issue; and build and maintain trust between science institutions and citizens by acknowledging shared interests in promoting public health and well-being.
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From page 31... ...
. He reiterated the barriers to obesity treatment, noting that many nongrandfathered health plans still contain blanket exclusions surrounding obesity treatment or chronic weight management services, despite the ACA's guarantees of coverage for preventive health care services, including obesity screening, and referral for intensive behavioral therapy.
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