The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #34265

Jennifer R. Shapiro, MPH¹, Kimberly A. Hemond, BA², Caitlin Carroll Oppenheimer, MPH³, Kathy L. McCarty, MPH⁴, Colleen A. Hirschkorn, RN, MPA⁵, and Jonelle C. Rowe, MD⁴. (1) Office of Research, Development, and Information, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Blvd., Mail Stop C3-20-17, Baltimore, MD 21244, (2) Bureau of Environmental Health Assessment, Massachusetts Department of Health, 250 Washington Street, 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02108, (3) National Opinion Research Center, 1350 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036, 202-223-6340, jshapiro@cms.hhs.gov, (4) Office on Women's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20201, (5) The Lewin Group, 3130 Fairview Park Drive, Suite 800, Falls Church, VA 22042

The BodyWise Eating Disorder Initiative is an innovative educational program for middle school personnel that addresses eating disorders (ED). The theory behind its design is that education of personnel can increase their knowledge and awareness, and influence their behaviors and attitudes regarding ED. Ultimately, these changes may equip school staff to better identify at-risk students and to encourage implementation of school policies in support of addressing ED. We undertook an evaluation of the pilot dissemination of BodyWise, which was distributed to a random sample of 490 middle school nurses drawn from the National Association of School Nurses. The evaluation entailed a one-group-pre-post design, implemented during the 2000-2001 school year. All data were collected through surveys, which characterized school practices and measured awareness, behaviors, attitudes, knowledge, and implementation of related activities. One hundred seven completed pre-post pairs were analyzed using paired t-tests. Results showed statistically significant increases in: awareness of relevant school policies; experience holding discussions on ED-related topics with groups of students; and overall knowledge of ED. Scores on specific attitude statements did not change. Activities stemming from BodyWise were implemented in one-fifth of schools. While these results can not be specifically attributed to the BodyWise materials due to the lack of a control group, they do suggest that staff oriented education may have potential for influencing ED awareness, behaviors, and knowledge. As BodyWise is the first initiative of its kind, from a policy perspective these findings argue for more widespread distribution of the program and more rigorous evaluation.

Learning Objectives:

• 3. Describe the theory behind educating school personnel to address eating disorders among students.
  7. Identify which domains (awareness, attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, school practices) were influenced by the BodyWise program.
  11. Identify the strengths and limitations of the one-group-pre-post design used to evaluate the pilot dissemination of the BodyWise program.
  15. Assess policy options for future implementation of the BodyWise eating disorder initiative.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Office on Women's Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services developed the BodyWise program
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.