Skip to main content
Journal cover image

"We bleed for our community:" A qualitative exploration of the implementation of a pragmatic weight gain prevention trial from the perspectives of community health center professionals.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Berger, MB; Chisholm, M; Miller, HN; Askew, S; Kay, MC; Bennett, GG
Published in: BMC Public Health
April 14, 2023

BACKGROUND: Clinical trial implementation continues to shift toward pragmatic design, with the goal of increasing future adoption in clinical practice. Yet, few pragmatic trials within clinical settings have qualitatively assessed stakeholder input, especially from those most impacted by research implementation and outcomes, i.e., providers and staff. Within this context, we conducted a qualitative study of the implementation of a pragmatic digital health obesity trial with employees at a Federally qualified health center (FQHC) network in central North Carolina. METHODS: Participant recruitment was conducted through purposive sampling of FQHC employees from a variety of backgrounds. Two researchers conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews and collected demographic data. Interviews were digitally recorded, professionally transcribed and double-coded by two independent researchers using NVivo 12. Coding discrepancies were reviewed by a third researcher until intercoder consensus was reached. Responses were compared within and across participants to elucidate emergent themes. RESULTS: Eighteen qualitative interviews were conducted, of whom 39% provided direct medical care to patients and 44% worked at the FQHC for at least seven years. Results illuminated the challenges and successes of a pragmatically designed obesity treatment intervention within the community that serves medically vulnerable patients. Although limited time and staffing shortages may have challenged recruitment processes, respondents described early buy-in from leadership; an alignment of organizational and research goals; and consideration of patient needs as facilitators to implementation. Respondents also described the need for personnel power to sustain novel research interventions and considerations of health center resource constraints. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study contribute to the limited literature on pragmatic trials utilizing qualitative methods, particularly in community-based obesity treatment. To continue to merge the gaps between research implementation and clinical care, qualitative assessments that solicit stakeholder input are needed within pragmatic trial design. For maximum impact, researchers may wish to solicit input from a variety of professionals at trial onset and ensure that shared common goals and open collaboration between all partners is maintained throughout the trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03003403) on December 28, 2016.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

BMC Public Health

DOI

EISSN

1471-2458

Publication Date

April 14, 2023

Volume

23

Issue

1

Start / End Page

695

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Weight Gain
  • Qualitative Research
  • Public Health
  • Obesity
  • Humans
  • Community Health Centers
  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • 4206 Public health
  • 4203 Health services and systems
  • 4202 Epidemiology
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Berger, M. B., Chisholm, M., Miller, H. N., Askew, S., Kay, M. C., & Bennett, G. G. (2023). "We bleed for our community:" A qualitative exploration of the implementation of a pragmatic weight gain prevention trial from the perspectives of community health center professionals. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 695. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15574-2
Berger, Miriam B., Miriam Chisholm, Hailey N. Miller, Sandy Askew, Melissa C. Kay, and Gary G. Bennett. “"We bleed for our community:" A qualitative exploration of the implementation of a pragmatic weight gain prevention trial from the perspectives of community health center professionals.BMC Public Health 23, no. 1 (April 14, 2023): 695. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15574-2.
Berger, Miriam B., et al. “"We bleed for our community:" A qualitative exploration of the implementation of a pragmatic weight gain prevention trial from the perspectives of community health center professionals.BMC Public Health, vol. 23, no. 1, Apr. 2023, p. 695. Pubmed, doi:10.1186/s12889-023-15574-2.
Journal cover image

Published In

BMC Public Health

DOI

EISSN

1471-2458

Publication Date

April 14, 2023

Volume

23

Issue

1

Start / End Page

695

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Weight Gain
  • Qualitative Research
  • Public Health
  • Obesity
  • Humans
  • Community Health Centers
  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • 4206 Public health
  • 4203 Health services and systems
  • 4202 Epidemiology