142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

312353
GoWoman: The Development of a Virtual World Weight Management Intervention for Women with Mobility Impairments

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM

Margaret Nosek, Ph.D. , Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Susan Robinson-Whelen, Ph.D. , Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Rosemary Hughes, Ph.D. , Rural Institute on Disabilities, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
Tracey Ledoux, Ph.D. , Texas Obesity Research Center, University of Houston, Houston, TX
Rebecca Lee, Ph.D. , College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ
Daniel O'Connor, Ph.D. , Texas Obesity Research Center, University of Houston, Houston, TX
Thomas Nosek, Ph.D. , Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH
Rebecca Goe, M. A. , Rural Institute on Disabilities, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
Stephanie Silveira, B. S. , Texas Obesity Research Center, University of Houston, Houston, TX
The GoWoman project is developing and pilot testing the first small group weight management program designed to meet the unique needs of women with mobility impairments, a significantly underserved health disparity population. The project is conducted by a consortium of investigators at five universities in partnership with a Community Advisory Board of five women with mobility impairments. In adapting existing curriculum from the Diabetes Prevention Program, we added content related to the association between disability and weight gain, adaptive cooking, accessible kitchen design, an expanded range of physical activities, precautions against excessive activities and exercises, disability-related stress, and examples that reflect the life situation of women with disabilities. Participants track their progress through MyFitnessPal. Offering this intervention in the online virtual world of Second Life allows us to circumvent many of the geographic, transportation, logistic, disability, and personal barriers that women with mobility impairments face when attempting to participate in public weight loss programs. Our simulated accessible kitchen, café, and physical activity venues also provide congenial and stigma-free environments for offering social interaction opportunities to reinforce the weight loss programming. The intervention consists of facilitated groups of 8-10 women who gather using their avatar and communicate using voice or text. Sessions last two hours and convene once a week for 16 weeks. We will demonstrate this virtual venue and present the results of the beta-test. We will discuss advantages and technical challenges of implementing interventions in virtual environments, and the implications of this study for mainstream weight loss programs.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Communication and informatics
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the process of translating the Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Change Program curriculum materials and processes so that they respond to the needs and life circumstances of women with mobility impairments. Explain the advantages and technical challenges of implementing health promotion interventions in an online virtual world. Discuss the beta-test results of the GoWoman weight management intervention for women with mobility impairments and their implications for mainstream weight loss interventions.

Keyword(s): Obesity, Disabilities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered