Harnessing the Power of Social Support for Weight Management: a Randomized Controlled Trial of HealthyTogether
VA Office of Research and Development
Summary
Four in five Veterans have overweight or obesity. However, few eligible Veterans achieve meaningful weight loss in VA's national MOVE! Weight Management Program. Family and friends strongly influence a person's health behaviors and weight. Including a close family member or friend in weight management may improve weight management outcomes. This study will test whether an 14-week, 8-session virtual weight management program that includes Veterans and a support person (e.g., family member or friend) leads to weight loss. The investigators will also test whether the program leads to improvements in weight-related health behaviors, including physical activity and diet, and relationship quality.
Description
The prevalence of overweight and obesity is more than 80% among VA users, increasing risk of morbidity and mortality. In 2006, VA nationally implemented the MOVE! Weight Management Program, an evidence-based behavioral weight management program. Effectiveness of MOVE! is suboptimal: \<20% of all participants and only 30% of those with intense and sustained participation achieve clinically meaningful weight loss. Furthermore, only 8-9% of eligible Veterans attend any MOVE! sessions and, among those who do, half attend only a single session. Taken together, \<2% of the 3.2 million eligible Veter…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: Veteran participants: * Age 18 or higher. * Assigned to a VA primary care provider. * Have a weight measurement (BMI\>=30) recorded in the VA medical record within 16 weeks prior to enrollment. * Have a second, valid weight measurement recorded in the VA medical record within the prior year. * Have a BMI\>=30 at enrollment. * Able to participate in virtual intervention sessions during regular business hours. Partner participants: * Age 18 or higher. * Able to participate in virtual intervention sessions during regular business hours. * Speak with Veteran at last weekly.…
Interventions
- BehavioralHealthyTogether
HealthyTogether is a brief (8-session), virtual, dyadic weight management intervention.
Locations (2)
- Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, COAurora, Colorado
- VA Puget Sound Health Care System Seattle Division, Seattle, WASeattle, Washington