Weight Bias Reducation Intervention With Nursing Students Using Simulation: The BRAVE Study

About this study

This randomized controlled trial will be a curriculum-embedded weight sensitivity training program. There will be two groups. The control group will receive the standard obesity lecture (SOL) and the intervention group will receive the BRAVE Intervention (BRAVE: Building Respect and Acceptance through Valuing Everybody); a Weight Bias Reduction (WBR) intervention. Both groups will have two simulation encounters with standardized patients who are living with obesity and the outcome will be to improve weight bias and increase weight sensitivity over one year. Participants will include second- and fourth-year nursing students. Two cohorts of nursing students will be recruited over two years during orientation for their NUR courses (n = 368); a combined total of 420 students are typically enrolled in these courses. Study participants will be randomized by 8-person simulation groups (clusters) to either the BRAVE intervention or SOL control group. They will then participate in the two simulation-based experiences and weight bias reduction education or standard obesity lecture, respectively, with a debriefing segment and educational components. To compare the efficacy of BRAVE groups to SOL groups in validated questionnaires will assess changing attitudes, beliefs, and clinical communication behaviors when comparing baseline to 3 months post-intervention, and one year after the intervention.

Longstanding evidence documents the detrimental effects of provider biases on poor patient outcomes. Weight bias among nurses is an understudied concept that causes increased morbidity and mortality in populations living with obesity. Specifically, studies show that nurses with weight bias: 1) assume patients' symptoms are related to obesity and do not further probe underlying causes, 2) are more reluctant to perform preventative health screenings (such as pelvic examinations, cancer screenings, and mammograms), 3) spend less time engaging with patients during visits, all of which causes patients to withdraw from the provider, potentially resulting in difficulty remembering or adhering to provider advice and avoiding future preventative care visits. Given the increasing rates of obesity i…

• Villanova University

  Villanova, Pennsylvania

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