ROLES OF MENTAL-HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY MEDICALLY SUPERVISED TREATMENT PROGRAMS FOR OBESITY

Excess weight is a major medical problem for more than one third of Am ericans and, after cigarette smoking, is the second largest cause of d eath, However, obesity treatments remain controversial, and only surgi cal therapies have patient volume and appropriate follow-up adequate t o prove effectiveness, National Institutes of Health conferences on ob esity treatments and the Institute of Medicine have suggested that all obesity treatment programs, including those which are medically super vised, should be multidisciplinary, involving professionals from the b ehavioral, nutritional, and exercise fields to facilitate delivery of a patient-treatment matching strategy, There are no models to suggest how these recommendations should be accomplished or whether they are f inancially feasible. We present a case management model that includes psychotherapists in a multidisciplinary obesity treatment program. Mor e data are needed to show whether these suggestions improve cost-effec tiveness of obesity treatments.