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Table 3 The role of family physicians

From: The 5As team patient study: patient perspectives on the role of primary care in obesity management

Subtheme

Patient Quotes

Physicians should initiate weight management conversation

• “I think that having that conversation would be beneficial. I mean even though things are going well now, in the future this could be potentially what being overweight might cause. I think that would be a huge help for a lot of people. It would be a help for me too.” (Patient 14)

Physicians should not be judgemental

• “I think a concerned family physician should always talk to you about your weight management, but not denigrate or harass you about it. Because you’ve achieved this for some reason…You won’t change it by medicine, you’ll change it by attitude and life.” (Patient 15)

Positive experience

• “I love my new doctor because he actually says stuff to you, very nicely. He’s very kind and gentle about it but he’ll actually say, ‘It’ll help if you lose weight.’ And he encouraged me to come here and encouraged me to take more classes.” (Patient 21)

• “My doctor doesn’t deal with the weight management as a completely separate issue. It’s affecting my health, my recovery and my ability to exercise. She sees me once a month for a follow-up appointment to check my prescriptions, how I’m feeling, and my weight. So it’s part of the bigger picture.” (Patient 7)

Negative experience

• “My family physician has never ever talked about my weight.” (Patient 5)

• “My family physician would give me the standard, ‘Eat less fat, eat less sugar (chuckle), exercise more,’- and that’s not going to cut it” (Patient 2)

• “They were like, ‘Okay, cut your calories and exercise,’ and that was their only thing… Eat less and exercise more isn’t the end-all-be-all. I’m looking for more concrete strategies.” (Patient 11)