Digital consultations for weight management in the NHS: A qualitative evaluation

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Obesity Management
• Healthcare Services Research

Background:

• Digital healthcare consultations for weight management have increased, particularly post-COVID-19.
• The National Health Service (NHS) offers digital weight management services (DWMS).
• Understanding patient experiences is key to improving DWMS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate patient experiences with NHS digital weight management services (DWMS).
• To identify perceived benefits and limitations of DWMS.
• To inform improvements in the provision of digital weight management.

Main Methods:

• Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 patients (8 male, 8 female) using DWMS in the West Midlands, UK.
• Interviews were transcribed verbatim.
• Thematic analysis was employed to identify overarching themes and sub-themes.

Main Results:

• Three main themes emerged: technology acceptability (challenges, requirements, beneficial features), treatment acceptability (features, patient attributes, practitioner skills), and treatment efficacy (features, patient attributes, practitioner skills).
• Patient feedback identified specific areas for enhancement in both the digital platform and the therapeutic approach.
• Perceived benefits and limitations were directly linked to technological and treatment factors.

Conclusions:

• Findings provide recommendations to enhance DWMS technology and treatment acceptability.
• Improving acceptability is expected to boost patient engagement and treatment efficacy.
• Further research is needed, and study limitations are discussed.