title: Weight Care Project: Health professionals' attitudes and ability to assess body weight status - study protocol.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health professionals working in primary care and public health have opportunities to address body weight status issues with their patients through face-to-face contact. The objectives of this all-Ireland project are: 1. to assess the attitudes, current practices/behaviours and knowledge of key health professional groups on body weight status; 2. to assess the health professional groups' ability to identify body weight status in both adults and children. The health professional groups are: (a) community related public health nurses; (b) school public health nurses; (c) GPs and practice nurses (primary care); and (d) occupational health nurses (workplace) from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
  
  
  METHODS
  This all-Ireland multi-disciplinary project follows a mixed methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and consists of four components:1. Literature review - to explore the role of health professionals in managing obesity through spontaneous intervention in a variety of health promotion settings.2. Telephone interviews and focus groups - to gain an in-depth insight into the views of health professionals in assessing body weight status.3. Survey (primarily online but also paper-based) - to determine the attitudes, current practices/behaviours and knowledge of health professionals in assessing body weight status.4. Online evaluation study - an online interactive programme will be developed to assess health professionals' ability to identify the body weight status of adults and children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This project will assess and report the attitudes, current practices/behaviours and knowledge of key health professional groups within Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on body weight status, and their ability to identify body weight status in both adults and children. The results of this project will generate recommendations for clinical practice in managing obesity, which may inform policy guidelines.
authors: School of Communication, University of Ulster, Shore Road, Newtownabbey, BT37 0QB, Northern Ireland. a.moorhead@ulster.ac.uk
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Moorhead
authors: Vivien
authors: V
authors: Coates
authors: Diane
authors: D
authors: Hazlett
authors: Alison
authors: A
authors: Gallagher
authors: Kathy
authors: K
authors: Murphy
authors: Geraldine
authors: G
authors: Nolan
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Dinsmore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001835:Body Weight; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009660:Northern Ireland; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis; D009785:Occupational Health Nursing; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis*; D059017:Primary Care Nursing; D012573:School Nursing; D055815:Young Adult