title: Roles of mental health professionals in multidisciplinary medically supervised treatment programs for obesity.
abstract: Excess weight is a major medical problem for more than one third of Americans and, after cigarette smoking, is the second largest cause of death. However, obesity treatments remain controversial, and only surgical therapies have patient volume and appropriate follow-up adequate to prove effectiveness. National Institutes of Health conferences on obesity treatments and the Institute of Medicine have suggested that all obesity treatment programs, including those which are medically supervised, should be multidisciplinary, involving professionals from the behavioral, nutritional, and exercise fields to facilitate delivery of a patient-treatment matching strategy. There are no models to suggest how these recommendations should be accomplished or whether they are financially feasible. We present a case management model that includes psychotherapists in a multidisciplinary obesity treatment program. More data are needed to show whether these suggestions improve cost-effectiveness of obesity treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans 70112, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Larrieu
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ayad
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: O'Leary
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Griffies
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Deblanc
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D001521:Behavior Therapy; D019090:Case Management; D002423:Cause of Death; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009765:Obesity / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010819:Physician's Role; D011570:Psychiatry; D011613:Psychotherapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome