title: Video telehealth for weight maintenance of African-American women.
abstract: We evaluated the effect of home telehealth on weight maintenance after a group-based weight loss programme. The home telehealth intervention comprised telephone counselling and home Internet-enabled digital video recorders (DVRs) with three channels of video programmes. The video content provided reinforcement and support to promote problem solving, prevent relapse and sustain motivation. Eighty-eight obese or overweight African-American women were randomized to receive monthly telephone counselling (control) or the home telehealth intervention. The weight change during maintenance was not significant in either group (0.6 kg in the intervention group, 0.0 kg in the control group), and there was no significant difference between them. Changes in diet, physical activity, social support and self-efficacy during the maintenance period did not differ significantly between groups. DVR use was low: during the intervention, the number of valid DVR viewings ranged from zero to 42 per person. DVR use was positively associated with previous attendance at the weight loss classes. Home video-based telehealth is a new method of delivering a weight loss maintenance intervention to African-American women. It had no effect on weight maintenance in the present study.
authors.affiliation: Center for Management of Complex Chronic Care, Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Ben S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schiffer
authors.forename: Allison A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Berbaum
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Rimmer
authors.forename: Carol L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Braunschweig
authors.forename: Marian L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Fitzgibbon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D012944:Social Support; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States; D014743:Videotape Recording; D015431:Weight Loss