Dr. Richard Marshall, pediatrician, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute have been awarded third place in Round 3 of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine’s (AJPM) Childhood Obesity Challenge, an online competition for innovative ideas to combat the childhood obesity epidemic.
The award was given to the STAR (Study of Technology to Accelerate Research) program, a collaboration between Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. The STAR Program highlights the use of health information and remote and mobile technology in improving the clinical management of childhood obesity and in supporting families outside of the clinical setting.
“We are so proud that the STAR program’s innovative use of mobile and health information technology has been recognized by the AJPM Childhood Obesity Challenge,” said Dr. Elsie Taveras, the program’s principal investigator at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. “The award will assist us in testing the effectiveness of this program for the management of childhood obesity.”
The STAR program uses technology to help clinicians and parents adopt evidence-based strategies to reduce childhood obesity. The team implemented electronic health record alerts during well-child visits that connect clinicians and patients to growth charts, patient education materials and a website of obesity-related resources. Each clinical practice also reinforced behavioral goals by providing direct-to-patient support through telephone coaching and interactive text messaging.
“By partnering with patients and their families, clinicians can have a significant impact on behaviors and health outcomes,” said Dr. Richard Marshall, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates principal investigator and a pediatrician at our Copley location. “The AJPM Childhood Obesity Challenge allowed us to create innovative clinical strategies to help combat the serious epidemic of childhood obesity.”
The third round of the AJPM Childhood Obesity Challenge focused on interventions for children and their families delivered in clinical settings or partnerships between clinics and communities. The competition is supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is working to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States by 2015.