
Women's Healthcare
A number of factors make women particularly susceptible to weight stigma and its negative health consequences. It’s important for healthcare professionals to understand unique risk factors for women and take steps to reduce weight stigma in patient care.
Addressing weight stigma in primary care for women
Stigma-related barriers that compromise women’s healthcare experiences can be prevented with patient-centered care, respectful communication, and collaboration.
Strategies to reduce weight stigma in women's healthcare
Perceived weight stigma in medical settings can have concerning implications for women’s utilization of healthcare. This handout contains 11 strategies that can be implemented to limit stigma in the healthcare setting and create a compassionate environment for all women.
Content Referenced in this Module
How can we improve healthcare for people of all body sizes?
Professor Puhl highlights how we can adapt our attitudes, language, and environment to provide satisfactory care.
Communicating with compassion and respect to dispel stigma
Learn what forms of communication to use (and avoid) for optimizing supportive conversations with patients.
A patient’s perspective of weight bias: Insights from Patty Nece
Patty describes what it is like to be a patient experiencing weight stigma in the healthcare setting.
How weight bias hinders healthcare: Observations from Dr. Jaime Almandoz, M.D.
A discussion with Dr. Jaime Almandoz, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, & Division of Endocrinology, UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Guided self-reflection on weight stigma in healthcare
Become more aware of your views about body size, interactions with patients, and strategies for ongoing, reflective practice.
Motivational interviewing
How to use motivational interviewing, an evidence-based approach for guiding behavior change, with example scripts for patient interactions.
Reflective listening
How to use reflective listening strategies to improve the quality of your communication with patients of diverse body sizes.
Patient-centered language
A summary of how to use patient-centered language when talking about body weight.
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