Rethinking Obesity Care: A Guide for Primary Healthcare Consultations
This resource has been co-produced with healthcare professionals and people with lived experience of obesity and/or weight-related medical gaslighting to rethink how we care for people experiencing obesity.
The guide is designed as a practical tool to facilitate conversations about obesity in primary care by moving beyond a sole focus on weight and towards a broader understanding of health and wellbeing. Drawing on both evidence and lived experience, it aims to:
Strengthen relationships between patients and healthcare professionals.
Support meaningful, person-centred conversations.
Signpost patients to a wider range of clinical, community and holistic support options.
Integrate a public health approach to the management of obesity and its related comorbidities.
A companion resource
This guide forms part of Centric Lab's wider Obesity Health Justice programme. It complements The People's Obesity Justice Pamphlet, a resource for the people, by the people, created as a tool for harm reduction and the promotion of autonomy for people experiencing obesity.
The People's Obesity Justice Pamphlet has been widely shared and used by patients and community members to better understand their experiences, reduce blame and shame, and navigate the healthcare system.
Since its publication, we have received feedback from healthcare professionals that sharing both resources together can be helpful. While this guide supports clinicians in facilitating holistic, person-centred conversations, The People's Obesity Justice Pamphlet provides a complementary resource which can be shared with patients, helping them to better understand their experiences and advocate for their own health.
You can read about, and access, The People’s Obesity Justice Pamphlet here: The Peoples’ Obesity Justice Pamphlet
A note on GLP-1 medications
We recognise that one of the biggest developments in obesity care is the growing use of GLP-1 medications and other weight-loss drugs. These treatments are becoming an increasingly important part of primary care, and conversations about them have become more common.
Specific advice on weight-loss medications isn’t included in this pamphlet. The evidence, prescribing guidance and availability of these treatments can vary between areas, and decisions around use need to be tailored to an individual's circumstances by them and their doctor or medical team.
This guide focuses on principles that remain relevant regardless of whether patients on medicated or non-medicated treatment pathways: building trusting relationships, exploring the wider factors that influence health, using respectful, person-centred language, and supporting shared decision-making. We hope these principles provide a useful foundation for conversations about all aspects of obesity care, including discussions about GLP-1 medications, while allowing healthcare professionals to draw on the latest clinical guidance when considering individual treatment options.
Contact us if you want printed copies for your establishment, centre, place of work
We want your feedback!
Please provide any feedback about the pamphlet here. We will use this to capture the impact of the pamphlet, as well to improve and build upon this body of work.
This pamphlet is by the people, for the people and we want to hear what you have to say.
Your feedback will help us to:
Capture the impact of the pamphlet, and see how and where it's being accessed
See how we can improve and build on this work
So that we can share our learnings, we may include your feedback in Centric reporting. Please note that by filling in this form you provide consent for your data to be used anonymously as part of our reporting. We are not collecting any personal data but for the avoidance of doubt you can review Centric Lab’s privacy policy here.
Further Reading
