PhD Student

First Supervisor: Prof Gurch Randhawa
Second Supervisor: Prof Yannis Pappas

Title of the Research

Evaluating eHealth lifestyle change interventions in the clinical management of obesity in adults – with consideration for socioeconomic status and ethnic group.

Study rationale

Obesity in adults is a growing health concern. Although effective, current treatment options have not been able to overcome the various factors that contribute toward rising obesity rates and persisting disparities in prevalence by socioeconomic status and ethnicity.

eHealth solutions might hold the capacity to improve the effectiveness, delivery, and flexibility of some of these treatments. Indeed, eHealth lifestyle change interventions delivered through smartphones (mHealth) have been shown to be able to facilitate significant weight loss, making mHealth an attractive adjunct to clinical obesity care. Although this is the case, evidence is currently limited to short-term effects and is also lacking with regards to general implementation, and effectiveness by socioeconomic status and ethnic group.

The research being conducted here seeks to help narrow these evidence gaps. This will first be done through the results of a systematic review, which will then inform a retrospective mixed-methods evaluation of a mHealth physical activity intervention previously used by a specialist weight management service at the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Funding: This work is made possible by the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity.

Publications

• Sithole, B. R., Pappas, Y., & Randhawa, G. (2023). eHealth in obesity care. Clinical Medicine, 23(4), 347–352. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmed.2023-0145

Contact Information

E: bukhosi.sithole@study.beds.ac.uk; raymond.sithole@beds.ac.uk