Medical social workers’ perceptions of obesity

Summary: Professionals’ perceptions of patients’ health conditions are significant factors which influence the quality of treatment they provide. This study aimed to assess medical social workers’ perceptions of their patients’ obesity (“obesity representations”), as well as the relationship between these representations and knowledge about obesity, attitudes toward obesity, and personal exposure to obesity. A convenience sample of 105 medical social workers completed illness representations (dimensions included cause, timeline, consequences, control, coherence, timeline cycle, emotional representation) questionnaires, as well as attitudes toward obese patients, obesity risk knowledge, personal exposure to obesity, and sociodemographic questionnaires. Findings: Medical social workers perceived obesity as being associated with severe consequences and as being controlled by one’s own behavior and through treatment. The medical social workers also expressed high negative emotional representations and significantly high percentage of them held negative attitudes toward obese patients. Multiple regression analyses revealed that personal exposure to obesity and attitudes toward obese patients emerged as significant predictors of timeline, emotional representations, and treatment control. Applications: The study findings encourage the development of training and support programs, which will deal with the feelings of fear and anger that may accompany the care of obese patients. In addition, the findings can also aid in assessing and evaluating medical social workers’ obesity representations.