Oral Presentation ANZOS Annual Scientific Meeting 2021

Precision support for preventing and managing childhood obesity (PRECISE): Co-design methodology of clinical resources for primary health care professionals   (#98)

Jacqueline Cotugno 1 , Oliver Canfell 2 3 4 5 , Jacqueline Walker 1 2 3 , Joanna Munro 1 , Robyn Littlewood 1 6 7 8
  1. Health and Wellbeing Queensland, Milton, QLD, Australia
  2. Digital Health Research Network, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane , Queensland, Australia
  3. Centre for Health Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane , Queensland, Australia
  4. Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre, Australian Government, Australian Government, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  5. UQ Business School, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, The University of Queensland, Brisbane , Queensland, Australia
  6. The University of Queensland, Adjunct Professor, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
  7. Adjunct Professor, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  8. Dietitians Australia, Fellow, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Primary health care (PHC) is a critical setting for childhood overweight/obesity prevention and treatment. Most children living with overweight/obesity do not receive evidence-based care in PHC. Common primary healthcare professional (PHP) barriers include low self-efficacy and confidence, limited consultation time and fear of discussing weight with families. These barriers are pervasive; yet, there is limited availability of resources to assist PHPs to overcome established clinical barriers. When mapped to individual clinical barriers, resources can become “precision resources” – personalised clinical tools to provide precise, evidence-based decision support in real-time to prevent and manage childhood overweight/obesity at the point-of-care. 

The PRECISE study aims to: (1) conduct a clinical needs assessment with multidisciplinary PHPs to prioritise gaps and opportunities for precision resources for childhood overweight/obesity; (2) co-design identified precision resources with multidisciplinary PHPs and caregivers of children (aged 0-17) as end-users.  

This study will apply a two-phase participatory, experience-based co-design approach that aligns with its two project aims. The COM-B (Capacity, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour) change wheel was used to map evidence-based barriers to (a) prevention (b) management and (c) referral of childhood overweight/obesity in PHC. A total of 36 participants (18 PHPs, 18 caregivers) will be recruited (20 PHPs currently recruited). Each phase will comprise multimodal focus groups with (1) PHPs only and (2) PHPs in conjunction with caregivers. Inductive thematic analysis will be conducted using the Framework Method for qualitative data analysis in multidisciplinary health research.  

This study will co-design novel precision resources for PHPs to enable best-practice clinical decision-support for every child patient and their family, every time and in real-time. PRECISE resources will be hosted in ‘Clinicians Hub’ – Health and Wellbeing Queensland’s digital ecosystem of clinical initiatives for childhood overweight/obesity. Future work will digitally integrate PRECISE resources with PHC clinical systems to maximise translation into routine practice.