Why weight bias and stigmatising language need to be addressed in healthcare

This is a Novo Nordisk Sponsored meeting

Novo Nordisk has provided sponsorship to the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD) to fully fund all costs for the development and delivery of this webinar, including creation, administration, promotion and speaker honoraria. Novo Nordisk has had no influence on the content and full editorial control remains the sole responsibility of ABCD.

Why weight bias and stigmatising language need to be addressed in healthcare

Tuesday 22nd November 2022, 19.00 - 20.00

In this webinar please join Dr Brown and Dr Flint to discuss what weight stigma is and the impact this has on psychological and mental health. In addition, they will discuss ways to discuss weight within a consultation, the impact of stigmatising language has on the patient-practitioner relationship and how healthcare professionals can adjust their approach and language to be less stigmatising and more inclusive. Finally they will discuss ways to reduce stigma within our practice.

This webinar will feature a Q & A session at the end with the expert panel.

This webinar is for UK Healthcare Professionals only

Speakers

Sally Abbott

Sally Abbott works both as an academic and as a clinical dietitian, specialising in obesity management. Sally is the Clinical Lead Dietitian for Tier 3 & Tier 4 services at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust and Assistant Professor in Dietetics at Coventry University. She was the European winner of the IFSO (International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity) Integrated Health Scholarship in 2018 for her commitment to bariatric surgery dietetics and sits on national committees, including on the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) council and acting Bariatric Officer for the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Obesity Specialist Group. She is an EASO (European Association for Study of Obesity) National Clinical Fellow in recognition of her clinical expertise in the field.
Professor Rob Andrews

Rob Andrews is an Associate Professor at the University of Exeter, an Honorary Consultant Physician at Musgrove Park Hospital Taunton. He is one of the co-founders of EXTOD, a group that aims to provide evidence-based support for people with type 1 diabetes to undertake safe and effective exercise, and to enjoy its associated health benefits.

At the University he leads a group that researches how to encourage and support patients with diabetes to exercise. At Musgrove park hospital he runs specialist adult, adolescent and paediatric sports clinics to give advice to sports men, women and children who have Type 1 diabetes
Dr. Adrian Brown

Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics
Dr Adrian Brown is a Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics in the Centre of Obesity Research at University College London. He is also a Senior Specialist Weight Management and Bariatric dietitian with over 17 years of clinical experience and a PhD in Medicine from Imperial College London.

His research interests centre around obesity, type 2 diabetes, bariatric surgery, weight stigma and the use of formula-based diets in different patient populations. His recently research has focussing on dietary methods for achieving type 2 diabetes remission, weight-related terminology used by healthcare professionals, weight stigma within dietetic practice and the impact of COVID-19 on people living with obesity, which he was PI of a series of national survey over the pandemic. He also helped set up the dietetic services within a regional specialist weight management service (Tier-3) where he was the dietetic service lead. He also designed a series of innovative group sessions for patients within a Tier-3 service, with his evaluation of these groups being one of the few published papers evaluating Tier 3 services within the UK.

Dr Brown is Chair of the Specialist Obesity Group for the BDA, on the steering group of the Obesity Empowerment Network, the scientific council of the British Nutrition Foundation, the strategic Council of the APPG on Obesity and on board of Trustees for Academy of Nutrition Sciences. While also being to programme co-lead of the MSc Dietetics (Pre-registration) course at UCL.
Dr. Stuart Flint

Associate Professor of Psychology
Dr Stuart W. Flint is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds, and President of Scaled Insights. Dr Flint is also an Honorary Academic for the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (DHSC). He is a contributing member to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Obesity and APPG on a Fit and Healthy Childhood. He contributes evidence to several other APPGs on health and inequalities experiences by marginalised groups. He has a specific interest and expertise in stigma and discrimination, leading work internationally and nationally to highlight the pervasiveness and impact of stigma and discrimination on obesity. He has developed interventions to reduce stigmatising attitudes and discriminatory behaviours working national and local governments, health systems, education, media, charities and the general population. In 2022, I was invited to submit written and subsequently, give in-person oral evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee enquiry on “the impact of negative body image on mental and physical health” highlighting the pervasiveness, impact and implications of weight stigma and discrimination. Dr Flint has published widely in high impact journals including the Lancet, Nature Medicine and the British Medical Journal, and is regularly interviewed by media outlets (e.g. BBC, Sky News, and The Times).
Ms. Ann Vincent

Specialist Mentor in Mental Health
Ann Vincent is a trustee and steering group member of The Obesity Empowerment Network and their champion for Wales. She works professionally as a specialist mentor in mental health for university students with both mental health issues and neurodiversity.

Ann refers to herself as a survivor of Obesity, existing in a world that is at odds with people in larger bodies. Ann has spoken publicly about her experience in an obese environment, and has contributed to research in this area and has been a co-author on several academic papers. She's passionate about educating society on causes and treatments available to support people living with obesity.