title: Use of Appreciative Inquiry To Engage Parents as Codesigners of a Weight Management Intervention for Adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Focus groups are often used to involve families as codesigners of weight management interventions. Focus groups, however, are seldom designed to elicit families' strengths and positive experiences. The purpose of this study was to describe the use of the Appreciative Inquiry process in the conduct of focus groups to engage families in the design of a weight management intervention for adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convenience sample of 44 parents (84% female; 82% minority) of adolescent children with a BMI ≥ 85th percentile, who were in the 6th-8th grade in a large urban school, participated in focus groups designed to elicit family-positive experiences and strengths regarding healthy living. A structured set of questions based on the Appreciative Inquiry process was used in the focus groups. Analyses consisted of the constant comparative method to generate themes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parent-positive perceptions regarding their family's healthy living habits were reflected in five themes: (1) Having healthy children is a joy; (2) Becoming healthy is a process; (3) Engaging in healthy habits is a family affair; (4) Good health habits can be achieved despite obstacles; and (5) School, community, and social factors contribute to their family's health habits. Parents generated ideas to improve their families' health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Focus groups based on the Appreciative Inquiry process were found to be a useful approach to discover features that are important to low-income, urban-living parents to include in an adolescent weight management program. Recommendations for designing and conducting focus groups based on the Appreciative Inquiry process are provided.
authors.affiliation: 1 Edward J. and Louise Mellen Professor of Nursing, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Shirley M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: 2 Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Cheryl M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Killion
authors.affiliation: 2 Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andrisin
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine , Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lissemore
authors.affiliation: 2 Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Tonia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Primm
authors.affiliation: 2 Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Oluwatomisin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Olayinka
authors.affiliation: 4 Angela Bowen Williamson Professor of Community Nutrition, Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Nutrition, Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods, Case Western Reserve University , School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH.
authors.forename: Elaine A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Borawski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups / Q000379:methods*; D006184:Habits; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: adolescent weight management; appreciative inquiry; focus groups; intervention design; obesity