Passive Recruitment Reach of a Lifestyle Management Program To Address Obesity In the Deep South During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Authors

Jennifer L. Lemacks, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Laurie S. Abbott, Florida State UniversityFollow
Cali Navarro, University of Southern Mississippi
Stephanie McCoy, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Tammy Greer, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Sermin Aras, University of Southern Mississippi
Michael B. Madson, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Jacqueline Reese-Smith, University of Southern Mississippi
Chelsey Lawrick, University of Southern Mississippi
June Gipson, Mississippi INBRE Community Engagement and Training CoreFollow
Byron K. Buck, University of Southern Mississippi
Marcus Johnson, University of Southern Mississippi

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-28-2023

School

Psychology

Abstract

Obesity is a significant public health concern, especially in the Deep South and in Mississippi where prevalence is among the worst in the nation paired, with other poor health outcomes and socioeconomic conditions. Lifestyle management programs that address modifiable risk factors, such as nutrition and physical activity, can be effective mitigation strategies to halt weight accumulation patterns and ameliorate metabolic risk factors for some populations. However, there is limited evidence regarding the implementation of effective practice models to address obesity risk in underserved and underrepresented populations, such as African Americans, and people in the stage of earlier adulthood. Furthermore, there is growing evidence supporting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle management programs that should be considered in these populations. The purpose of this manuscript was to describe the development and telehealth implementation of a weight management program during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide a preliminary examination of recruitment strategies and baseline characteristics for enrolled participants. Passive recruitment (social media, web, email, and other media advertisements) resulted in 157 screening initiations, and 79 of those participants met the study inclusion criteria. Further, of the 79 eligible participants, 38 completed all study enrollment requirements and presented with metabolic abnormalities. The study findings add to the emerging body of evidence for how the pandemic may have impacted lifestyle management programs and is representative of an understudied and underrepresented population.

Volume

10

Issue

1

First Page

116

Last Page

128

Recommended Citation

Lemacks, J. L., Abbott, L. S., Navarro, C., McCoy, S., Greer, T., Aras, S., Madson, M. B., Reese-Smith, J., Lawrick, C., Gipson, J., Buck, B. K., Johnson, M. (2023). Passive Recruitment Reach of a Lifestyle Management Program To Address Obesity In the Deep South During the COVID-19 Pandemic. , 10(1), 116-128.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/21748