Video telehealth for weight maintenance of African-American women

Abstract

Summary We evaluated the effect of home telehealth on weight maintenance after a group-based weight loss programme. The home telehealth intervention comprised telephone counselling and home Internet-enabled digital video recorders (DVRs) with three channels of video programmes. The video content provided reinforcement and support to promote problem solving, prevent relapse, and sustain motivation. Eighty-eight obese or overweight African-American women were randomized to receive monthly telephone counselling (control) or the home telehealth intervention. The weight change during maintenance was not significant in either group (0.6 kg in the intervention group, 0.0 kg in the control group), and there was no significant difference between them. Changes in diet, physical activity, social support and self-efficacy during the maintenance period did not differ significantly between groups. DVR use was low: during the intervention, the number of valid DVR viewings ranged from zero to 42 per person. DVR use was positively associated with previous attendance at the weight loss classes. Home video-based telehealth is a new method of delivering a weight loss maintenance intervention to African-American women. It had no effect on weight maintenance in the present study.

Interventions Promoting Physical Activity in African American Women

“…22 Common inclusion criteria included overweight or obesity 15,18,26,32,34,36,37 and sedentary. 17,22,29,31,33,36,38–40 Few studies focused on women who were age 40 or older 19,25 and age 60 or older.…”

“…Several studies 11,14,17,18,21,24,25,27,34,38,39,43–45 included group exercise sessions. This review revealed that several studies included a group meeting or educational session.…”

“…The most common omission was identification of the study as a randomized trial in the title. 14,15,18,22,24,25,27 …”

Learning new tricks: An assessment of novel versus traditional patient counseling strategies

“…Similar findings underscoring the effectiveness of video-based media were observed in different settings. [15][16][17][18] The common themes observed were that video alternatives offer alternative perspectives and approaches to information acquisition. These displays have a tendency to accentuate key points through animation or overemphasis that appear to be vital to future recall.…”

Personalized Telehealth in the Future: A Global Research Agenda

“…62 When home video telehealth and monthly telephone counseling, respectively, were used to maintain weight in African-American women, there were no differences in outcomes for the two methods; however, valid digital video recorder use during the intervention period was reported as low, ranging from zero to 42% use per participant. 63 In an 18-month longitudinal study of telehealth for diabetes management, patients using telehealth required less support in physical activity, healthy eating, and problem-solving behaviors than control participants, but more support in medication adherence and healthy coping. 64 It might be that telehealth users became dependent on telehealth to promote medication adherence and provide coping advice.…”