The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has said that the right kind of healthcare can make all the difference when helping patients with obesity, including those in Brimbank.
It comes ahead of the World Organisation of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians, or WONCA, world conference in Sydney from October 26-29.
WONCA will include a comprehensive panel discussion on obesity featuring expert speakers from around the world examining issues including: the effectiveness of health promotion interventions delivered by community health workers to control obesity, weight gain in patients living with early psychosis, factors associated with weight gain during the COVID-19 pandemic and obesity management in primary care and the link to effective lifestyle management and preventative medicine.
A WONCA pre-conference workshop (CPD hours attached) on a novel approach to medically supervised weight management will be held on October, 25, from 1.30pm to 3pm.
Those interested can register for the workshop while registering for the conference.
RACGP Specific Interests Obesity Management Chair, Dr Terri-Lynne South, encouraged GPs to sign up for WONCA this year.
“This conference is a wonderful opportunity that will bring together GPs, family doctors and primary health practitioners from across the globe,” she said.
“You can share your own insights and learn from others and the panel discussion on obesity on Sunday 29 October certainly looks promising.
“Obesity is a delicate area for GPs and patients to navigate. We live in an era of social media comparisons and people suffering from body image pressures, so providing the right kind of care and support is crucial.
“GPs certainly don’t want to make people feel worse about themselves or even discriminated against; however, we can’t avoid discussing weight with patients entirely.
“This is a growing problem in Australia, with 67% of the nation’s adults falling into the categories of being overweight or obese alongside of a quarter of children and adolescents.
“So, clearly this is something that must be front of mind for GPs and practice teams, and that includes helping people to take the steps necessary to improve their health and wellbeing rather than just focussing on the numbers on the scale.”
Themed, “Recovery, reconnection, and revival. A celebration of primary care,” it will include more than 800 presentations and workshops from over 700 local and international presenters from around the world. WONCA will feature over 50 streams, covering a range of issues being faced by GPs including obesity, mental health, women’s health, climate change, rural practice, and more.
