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Background: Weight stigma among healthcare professionals is associated with negative health impacts on patients, yet there are few effective strategies to combat weight stigma among health professional learners. The Body Advocacy Movement-Health (BAM-Health) is a novel group-based, peer-led stigma reduction intervention for health professional students that targets weight stigma across intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural levels. The present study (1) assesses short-term impacts of BAM-Health participation on intrapersonal and interpersonal weight bias compared to an informational brochure control condition and (2) explores the feasibility and acceptability of BAM-Health among a sample of health professional students., Methods: Sixty-seven health professional students participated in BAM-Health (n = 34) or received an informational brochure about weight stigma (n = 33). Participants completed validated self-report surveys assessing internalized weight/ appearance concerns and interpersonal weight stigma prior to their assigned intervention (baseline), immediately following intervention (post-intervention), and four weeks after intervention (follow-up). Baseline to post-intervention and baseline to follow-up effect sizes on each measure were calculated. At post-intervention, participants completed feedback surveys for thematic assessment., Results: BAM-Health participation had a large baseline to post-intervention effect on internalized weight/ appearance concerns that diminished slightly at follow-up (Cohen's d = -0.88; d = -0.62). Receipt of the informational brochure had a small effect on internalized weight/ appearance concerns (d = -0.27); however, these changes were not sustained at follow-up (d = 0.04). BAM-Health participation resulted in reductions in interpersonal obesity stigma and anti-fatness with small effect sizes (d = -0.32; d = -0.31). The effect on obesity stigma was slightly amplified at follow-up (d = -0.43); however, decreases in anti-fatness were not sustained (d = -0.13). The brochure condition failed to demonstrate effects on anti-fatness (d = 0.13, d = 0.14) or obesity stigma (d = -0.12; d = -0.12) at either time point. Between-session attrition rates of 4.5%, favorable quantitative ratings on post-session acceptability surveys, and free responses demonstrating appreciation of the virtual group environment and session activities reflect feasibility and acceptability of BAM-Health., Conclusions: BAM-Health is a novel peer-led intervention that aims to reduce weight stigma among health professional students. BAM-Health met feasibility benchmarks and received positive feedback from participants, demonstrating acceptability and indicating interest among health professional students in analyzing and reducing weight stigma in their personal lives and careers. The intervention led to promising decreases in internalized and interpersonal weight stigma at post-intervention, some of which were sustained at follow-up. However, lack of effect on internalized weight/ appearance concerns measures may indicate that BAM-Health participants are more likely to reject weight stigma directed toward others following intervention, while maintaining thin ideals for themselves. Further investigation of BAM-Health with a larger sample and continued program development is warranted., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a harmful, life-threatening illness. Patients with severe AN often receive acute treatment but, upon discharge, experience high relapse rates. Evidence-based, outpatient treatment following acute care is critical to preventing relapse; however, numerous barriers (e.g., location, financial limitations, low availability of providers) preclude individuals from accessing treatment. mHealth technologies may help to address these barriers, but research on such digital approaches for those with AN is limited. Further, such technologies should be developed with all relevant stakeholder input considered from the outset. As such, the present study aimed to garner feedback from eating disorder (ED) treatment center providers on (1) the process of discharging patients to outpatient services, (2) their experiences with technology as a treatment tool, and (3) how future mHealth technologies may be harnessed to offer the most benefit to patients in the post-acute period., Methods: Participants ( N  = 11, from 7 ED treatment centers across the United States) were interviewed. To analyze the data for this study, each interview was manually transcribed and analyzed using components of Braun and Clarke's six-phase thematic analysis framework (Braun & Clarke, 2006)., Results: Participants indicated proactively securing outpatient care for their patients, but mentioned several barriers their patients face in accessing evidence-based ED treatment. All participants had some experience using various technologies for treatment (e.g., teletherapy, self-monitoring apps), and mentioned a high level of interest in the development of a new app to be used by patients recently discharged from acute treatment for AN. Participants also offered suggestions of effective and relevant content for a potential app and adjunctive social networking component for post-acute care of AN., Discussion: Overall, participants expressed positive attitudes toward the integration of an app into the care flow, suggesting the high potential benefit of harnessing technology to support individuals recovering from AN., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Haas, Laboe, McGinnis, Firebaugh, Shah, Bardone-Cone, Pike, Taylor, Wilfley and Fitzsimmons-Craft.)