Staying iN Touch with Youth with Obesity and Depression

This post is the third in a series that will introduce you to our five new grantee teams.

By Katherine Kim, San Francisco State University, iN Touch Principal Investigator

Obesity and depression
Overweight and obese youth are suffering from chronic illnesses at younger and younger ages. The iN Touch project is reaching out to youth who are dealing with or are at risk for obesity and depression. Here at San Francisco State University’s Health Equity Institute (SF State) we believe we need to manage both of these conditions to have healthier youth. 

iN Touch
To tackle this issue we have partnered with clinicians from San Francisco General Hospital’s Teen Clinic (SFGH) to integrate smartphone technology with a health coaching model of care to help youth say in touch with their health, in touch with the factors in their environment that impact their health, and in touch with their care team. With an iPhone or an iPod Touch, San Francisco teens will be able to track observations of daily living (ODLs) such as food choices, physical activity, social networks, moods and information about the environment they live in that they feel is relevant to managing their physical and mental health. But, access to information and tracking of ODLs is only a first step. Taking action based on the information is critical. That’s where health coaching comes in.

The SFGH health coaching model centers around the patient. The primary care team includes the physician, therapist, and health coach who work together to support the patient. For example, a health assessment will be done by the physician that identifies medical issues. The health coach will then meet with the patient to help them develop an action plan—one that states the patient’s specific health goal, steps she will take to work towards that goal, and commitments around tracking, communication, and follow through. The smartphone technology supports the daily engagement with the action plan and allows the patient to interface with the health coach as often as they want. It also helps the care team identify medical and mental health issues as they arise, not waiting until the next visit which might be weeks or months away. In this way, we hope to enable an integrated and comprehensive approach to well-being that helps patients and their providers work together.

The iN Touch Team
I am the principal investigator from SF State and work with co-PI Christina Sabee from SF State’s Communications Studies Department. We are collaborating with the SFGH team which includes co-PI (and UC San Francisco faculty) Dr. Tom Bodenheimer, medical director Dr. Hali Hammer, Teen Clinic attending Dr. Aisha Mays, Department of Public Health psychiatric social worker David Guldmann, and iN Touch program manager Amireh Ghorob. We also have great research assistants: health education graduate student Ed Young and communications studies graduate students Joven Chacon and Holly Logan.

We are very excited about our project and hope you'll visit our webpage for updates and follow our progress through the blog!