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| Department of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine Research Kathaleen C. Perkins, M.D. Background: My interest is in the evaluation of healthcare services to adolescents, positive prevention (intervention), and improvement of healthcare for teens. Clinical Research:
Tapering has not been publicized as an intervention for adolescents. Nevertheless, in our population tapering was effective and gave statistically significant results.
The focus of this project is to change the lifestyles of overweight adolescents by increasing their physical activity and improving their diets. Medical and mental health professionals provide a comprehensive assessment and counseling to all enrolled families including motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy. The participants have a BMI over the 85th percentile. Preliminary analyses have shown that within the first six months, half of the patients had changed their lifestyles and had lost weight. Future analyses and continued enrollment is expected.
The study goal is to involve as many communities, individual providers, and school-based health centers as well as rural health centers as possible in promoting similar prevention programs. In this endeavor, Adolescent Medicine staff is partnering with specialists in social work, nutrition, exercise physiology and psychology to provide the same comprehensive services as those discussed in the clinical study.
A nurse educator has been gathering patients’ “stories” about how they feel with regard to eating and their own body image. Personal perception may prove beneficial for future research and intervention programs. Additionally, providing the “story” has been shown to be therapeutic for individuals experiencing issues related to overweight. |
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