BMC Public Health Publishes Envolve Center Research on Efforts to Boost Participation in a Family-Centered Pediatric Obesity Intervention Program

Date: 07/13/18

The Envolve Center for Health Behavior Change™ announces its first published academic research paper based on interviews conducted with parents on how to better engage members in Raising Well, Envolve’s family-centered pediatric obesity intervention program. The paper was recently published in BMC Public Health, an open access, peer-reviewed journal that focuses on all aspects of public health including social determinants of health.

Seventy interviews were conducted with parents eligible for Raising Well. The program is offered to families with at least one overweight or obese child in an eligible Medicaid health plan. It promotes healthy lifestyle changes and includes telephonic outreach by clinical health coaches.

The interviews elicited feedback on ways to improve parents’ interest and involvement in the program as a way of enhancing both reach and effectiveness. Findings emphasize the need to support parents in overcoming barriers to healthy lifestyle behaviors by being flexible and understanding of the families’ busy schedules and living circumstances. Importantly,

  • Parents found it more helpful when coaches helped them to identify specific goals and actionable steps tailored to the family context (e.g., financial constraints, neighborhood environment) rather than providing general nutrition education.
  • Building trust with parents and helping parents to work through other stressors (e.g., work, finances, childcare) that may be taking priority over healthy behaviors is key to program success.     

“Early interventions that provide valuable, personalized education and strategies for the whole family can help promote healthy behaviors,” states Rachel Tabak, research associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and lead faculty in the Envolve Center’s Lifestyle Innovations group. “Strong relationships between coaches and families and offering tailored, actionable strategies can help maximize the benefits of a program such as Raising Well.”

View the full publication entitled A Formative Study to Understand Perspectives of Families Eligible for a Pediatric Obesity Program: A Qualitative Study here https://rdcu.be/NgUL.

About the Envolve Center for Health Behavior Change™

The Envolve Center for Health Behavior Change™ is a community-corporate-academic healthcare partnership that advances life-centric health research to improve lives so that communities can thrive. For more information regarding the Envolve Center for Health Behavior Change, visit https://envolve.wustl.edu.

About Envolve, Inc.®

Envolve, Inc.® is a family of health solutions, working together to make healthcare simpler, more effective and more accessible for everyone. As an agent for change in healthcare, Envolve is committed to transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. Envolve unifies specialty pharmacyPBMvisiondental24/7 nurse advice servicesdiabetes managementMSO solutions, and more. For more information, please visit our website www.envolvehealth.com or contact us at mediainquiries@envolvehealth.com.

About BMC

BMC Public Health is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on the epidemiology of disease and the understanding of all aspects of public health. The journal has a special focus on the social determinants of health, the environmental, behavioral, and occupational correlates of health and disease, and the impact of health policies, practices and interventions on the community. Visit https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/ for more information.