ACP announced on Friday a new initiative aimed at advancing equitable access to obesity care. ACP plans to utilize physician education, advocacy, and partnerships to advance a stigma-free culture in which patients and clinicians collaborate to prevent and manage this increasingly common chronic condition. In addition, the initiative will ensure equitable access to care for patients and help counter public misinformation about the causes of obesity, the stigma around it, and the equity issues around how it’s treated.
Participants in the press briefing included ACP President Ryan D. Mire, MD, MACP, a practicing internal medicine physician in Nashville, Tenn.; Christina Wee, MD, MPH, ACP Vice President and Senior Deputy Editor, Annals of Internal Medicine; and Davoren Chick, MD, FACP, ACP's Chief Learning Officer and Senior Vice President of Medical Education.
ACP’s new initiative will expand upon and complement existing organizational efforts and resources on obesity management. Internal medicine physicians regularly encounter challenges related to obesity in patient care, and ACP recognizes that obesity and health equity are not simple issues with easy, clear solutions. Plans for the new initiative include developing new clinical guidelines and recommendations on obesity, as well as expanded physician education resources to help diffuse and dispel levels of misinformation and forms of bias that have centered around the topic.
Health equity is a central tenet of ACP’s policy and advocacy efforts. ACP advocates for improving high-value and comprehensive health care for all members of society in ways that move us closer to health equity. This includes addressing disparities in health and health care and social determinants of health to improve patient care and promote health equity. Inadequate access to nutritious food negatively impacts the health of many Americans, which in turn can significantly exacerbate food and nutritional insecurity and other social factors impacting health. ACP advocates to address food and nutrition insecurity so that all persons have access to nutritious and healthful foods, to strengthen the federal food-insecurity response, and to empower physicians and other medical professionals to better address those social drivers of health occurring beyond the office doors.
ACP also plans to partner with like-minded organizations across specialties and subspecialties to amplify efforts and messages. Later this year ACP will convene a summit with the Council of Subspecialty Societies to address many aspects of obesity and health equity prioritized in this initiative.
“This initiative is ambitious, but health equity provides an intentional lens to align our efforts to increase access to care and treatments, reduce stigma and bias for patients, and address health disparities in marginalized populations,” said Dr. Mire. “With focused efforts, we are confident we can ensure equitable access for patients and help counter public misinformation about the causes of obesity, the stigma around it, and the equity issues around how it’s treated.”
Dr. Wee discussed contributing factors to America’s obesity problem, issues associated with current screening and measures for obesity, and stigma in the exam room. Dr. Wee also announced that Annals of Internal Journal has curated a collection of obesity- and overweight-related content and resources published in the journal to help clinicians keep up with the science related to obesity and its management.
Dr. Chick discussed ACP’s educational efforts and resources, including the Obesity Management Learning Hub, comprising materials developed to increase physicians’ confidence in initiating patient conversations and providing counseling on treatment options to patients with obesity. She discussed the organization’s desire to advance awareness and use of these resources, and as evidence-based information evolves, to continue to update, develop and disseminate educational materials to improve outcomes. ■