Seminar - From a pragmatic weight management intervention to bariatric surgery
2021-03-23 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | Online, United Kingdom
All are invited to the CEDAR/MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
From a pragmatic weight management intervention to bariatric surgery
Dr Helen Parretti, University of East Anglia.
This seminar will be broadcast live online, please register in advance for this meeting:
https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAkcuCvrzouG9O_jSAFbhMqJOqO1uDbHgUI
Please use your institutional email address for registration (if possible) and complete your registration at least 30 minutes prior to the seminar so that you will receive the confirmation email/access link before the seminar (your registration will be manually checked and approved).
If you do not receive the confirmation and link within 12 hours of registration please check your junk/quarantine/spam email folders, and if it’s not there contact us at seminars@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk so that we can check your registration and resend the confirmation email.
Abstract
Pregnancy can be a high-risk time for weight gain. However, the postnatal period may present an opportunity to offer weight management support. PIMMS-WL was a NIHR funded randomised controlled cluster trial investigating the feasibility and acceptability of a brief weight management intervention for postnatal women embedded within the national child immunisation programme.
This seminar will start by presenting the results of PIMMS-WL. The remainder of the seminar will focus on the long-term management of patients after bariatric surgery. The multiple health benefits of bariatric surgery are well established. However, in the longer term patients can become vulnerable to procedure specific problems, which can have long term consequences. Issues and research around the management of patients who have had bariatric surgery will be discussed.
About Dr Parretti
Dr Helen Parretti is clinical senior lecturer in Norwich Medical School. Prior to this she completed a NIHR Academic Clinical Lectureship in Birmingham. She has a research interest in obesity.
Her research has mainly focussed on novel pragmatic interventions for weight management (e.g. Weigh2Go and PIMMS-WL trials) and the long-term care of patients after bariatric surgery. She led the development of the RCGP guidance for the long-term management of patients post-bariatric surgery and was a member of the expert subgroup commissioned by NHS England Obesity CRG to develop bariatric surgery follow-up guidelines.
She is the RCGP representative to the RCP JSC for diabetes and endocrinology and the RCP Advisory Group for Nutrition, Health and Weight. She was elected to the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society council in 2020.
Twitter: @helen_parretti
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Cambridge Festival 2021 - Involving people in telehealth research during the COVID-19 pandemic
2021-03-30 19:00 - 20:00
Involving people in telehealth research during the COVID-19 pandemic – The challenges of scale, engagement and inclusivity
Watch a recording of this event on our YouTube channel
Advances in online platforms, devices and smartphone technology create opportunities for researchers to continue research and engage with study participants whilst maintaining COVID-19 physical distancing rules.
In this Cambridge Festival 2021 event MRC Epidemiology Unit scientists Dr Kirsten Rennie and Dr Rebecca Richards will discuss how telehealth approaches are transforming how we are conducting research, with two examples; how we are assessing people’s health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic and in a weight management intervention.
The Fenland Study comprises over 12,000 people broadly representative of the Cambridgeshire population, and we established the Fenland COVID-19 study to determine how many participants have evidence of previous infection with COVID-19. Previously, participants in our studies have come to one of our clinical research facilities for measurements and samples to be taken, and questionnaires completed. We are now using new ways to collect data and blood samples, including an innovative blood draw device that allows a standardised dried blood spot to be taken by the participant themselves at home and sent directly back to the laboratory using regular postal service. It is the first time this device has been employed in research in the UK. The Fenland COVID-19 study also uses a bespoke app developed by Huma to collect information in real-time on symptoms, temperature and oxygen saturation, resting heart rate, diet, activity and wellbeing.
Obesity increases the risk of having a more severe COVID-19 infection. Social distancing and isolation measures imposed during the pandemic have disrupted our usual routines, and eating and exercise habits, and along with the closure of weight management services, adults with overweight and obesity may be vulnerable to weight gain. The Supporting Weight Management during COVID-19 (SWiM-C) study is evaluating a new online self-help programme to prevent weight gain and support good physical and mental health.
Innovations in telehealth such as these have promise for a range of clinical healthcare and research settings, reducing the need for people to visit clinics and maintaining better online contact. However, it is important that it is acceptable to participants and the technology does not exclude sectors of the population. The session will examine some of the challenges of these innovations posed for both researchers and participants, and how our research teams are addressing them.
Photo by Maxim Ilyahov on Unsplash
