study Made by University College London (UCL), in the UK, that lObese patients feel ’embarrassed’ by doctors, nutritionists and nursesAfter these professionals “leave them anxious, depressed and guilty” about their condition at medical appointments.
Newspaper guardian agreed To an investigation conducted by the aforementioned study house and specialist Anastasia Kaliawhich they analyzed 25 previous studies on ‘weight stigma’made in different countries, involving 3,554 health professionals.
“Many health professionals believe that their patients They are lazy, lack self-control, exaggerate, hostile, dishonest, lack personal hygiene, and do not follow instructions.”I mentioned d. Kalia.
He added: “Unfortunately medical care including general practice, One of the most common settings for weight stigmatization And we know this is a barrier to services and treatments that can help people manage their weight.”
In this sense, the report emphasized that health professionals have “unconscious weight biaswhich, as a consequence, It makes people “do not want to come to medical appointments, feel offended and therefore more likely to be overweight.”
“One of the clearest examples is a general practitioner who will unconsciously show that he is not thinking.” Your patient adheres to a diet or nutritionistwhich judges a person because they cannot follow a low-calorie diet,” explained the physician and assistant professor in the University of California Department of Medicine.
In addition, the study also revealed A series of conflicting statespromoted by the quarantine of the Covid-19 epidemic.
during closing, Many patients were “satisfied” with the sessions through video calls on their treatments and confirmed that they “did not miss any appointments”. “(The patients) They felt, in a hypothetical way, that they were not as judged as when they left their home to see their doctor“, Has been chosen.
Possible solution: honest communication without stigma
The aim of the research was Identify strategies that will help train health professionals to be less judgmental In the way they talk to patients who are overweight or obese.
In this sense, specialists from University College London have suggested that medical students, nurses and other health professionals receive training In “Communication about Non-stigmatous Weight”.
“The language used with patients is vital to establishing a relationship And that they are involved in trying to lose weight and not feel guilty about it.”
He concludes, “It is a semantic question: it is not about ‘obese patient’ but ‘obese patient’; the patient “Someone manage their weight” not “fight it”“”.
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