August 12, 2024 — It is remarkable that actual caring can be hard to find in healthcare. This is especially true for persons living with obesity. But it can make a significant difference for well-being and satisfaction with care. New research by Paige Crompvoets and colleagues offers us valuable insights into this concern, examining the relationship of person-centered care […]
April 22, 2022 — In obesity care, the longer view of a weight history is essential to understanding a person’s journey of health. It’s all about the trajectory of a lifetime. For example, on Reddit a person reflects on their own history: “My current weight is the most I’ve ever weighed. At the moment I’m at 174 lbs. Before I […]
April 9, 2022 — What is healthcare when providers don’t provide care for a chronic disease and, in fact, make it worse? That is a glimpse of the care people mostly don’t receive for obesity. In a study of adults with overweight or obesity, Beini Lyu and colleagues found that use of anti-obesity medicines was rare. But instead, prescribing […]
June 20, 2021 — We have a problem in healthcare. It’s really quite simple. Health systems have grown better at delivering health services than they are at delivering health care. It’s worse for people living with obesity, because prevailing bias leads health professionals to care even less for people with obesity. Add in racism and the problem grows larger […]
March 16, 2021 — Bias and stigma are not confined to obesity. And in fact, a considerable body of research tells us that far too many people with diabetes experience it and it is greatest in people who require insulin, have more difficulty controlling the disease, and have a higher BMI. Though stigma can be a problem for people […]
December 24, 2020 — Watching the pandemic of COVID-19 play out this year has given us an education in so many things. Will it prompt us to wrap our heads around a persistent pandemic of racism? Or shall we fall back on tired rhetoric? Racism has profound effects on health and lifespan for people of color. The facts are […]
June 23, 2019 — Obesity presents many problems. But two of them rise to the top: access to care and bias. Yesterday, at the Harvard Blackburn obesity course, Caroline Apovian reminded us why. Too often, people with obesity endure a lifetime of derision and medical neglect. With facts and case histories, she painted a searing picture of the suffering […]
August 13, 2018 — My father instilled in me a desire and a curiosity about diagnosis. It started with me watching him conduct autopsies as Medical Examiner of Bergen County, New Jersey. I accompanied him to the scene of countless murders and unsolved crimes, witnessing him examine each body for clues that could reveal the cause of a person’s […]
