This submission contains an empirical research paper entitled 'Conversations in weight management services that involve discrepancies between client report and clinical investigation: A narrative exploration' and a systemic review entitled ' Media discourses on obesity in contemporary western society: A systematic review'.Conversations in weight management services that involve discrepancies between client report and clinical investigation: A narrative exploration
Healthcare professionals (HCPs) in weight management services can struggle to lead conversations containing discrepancies between client report and clinical investigation. This can result in a lack of shared understanding and impasses in weight loss. Understanding the complexities of these conversations is therefore important. Complexities were explored through 1) mapping sense-making of the discrepancies and 2) identifying challenges and how they were managed. Narrative analysis of twelve HCPs’ stories of such conversations showed multiple understandings of discrepancies and that shared understandings between clients and HCPs were not always reached. HCPs struggled with the thought that clients might be reporting dishonestly, and with how to address this. HCPs understanding and management of discrepancies were complicated by public discourses on obesity and professional roles. HCPs were mindful to not shame clients and wanted to appear as ‘good’ clinicians. These findings may be used to validate and normalise HCPs’ experiences of conversations containing discrepancies.
Media discourses on obesity in contemporary western society: A systematic review
How obesity is discussed in the media has the power to impact both public policy and the views of the general population. It follows that researchers have started to examine how obesity is ‘framed’ within television and newsprint media. This review was a meta-synthesis of the main obesity discourses reported in research on current media obesity discourses. Five databases were systematically searched to yield a sample of twelve articles that met the inclusion criteria. All articles were subject to a quality control measure to assess the methodological integrity. Five dominant discourses were identified: ‘Obesity is a burden. Obese people are a burden’, ‘Your weight is your choice… Losing weight is simple’, ‘Factors beyond your control may contribute to obesity but they aren’t excuses’ ‘Education and legislation can help reduce obesity, if you eat less’ and ‘Being fat is unhealthy, ugly and open to public comment’. These were discussed in terms of their potential impact on public policy and on individuals with obesity
