Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Online First
    • Multimedia
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • The Issue in Brief (Plain Language Summaries)
    • Call for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Media
    • Job Seekers
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • RSS
    • Email Alerts
    • Journal Club
  • Contact
    • Feedback
    • Contact Us
  • Careers

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
Annals of Family Medicine
  • My alerts
Annals of Family Medicine

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Online First
    • Multimedia
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • The Issue in Brief (Plain Language Summaries)
    • Call for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Media
    • Job Seekers
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • RSS
    • Email Alerts
    • Journal Club
  • Contact
    • Feedback
    • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Follow annalsfm on Twitter
  • Visit annalsfm on Facebook
Research ArticleInnovations in Primary Care

Moving From In-Person to Telehealth Group Visits for a Mindful-Eating Healthy Nutrition Program

Jennifer K. Carroll, Leonard Finn, Kirsten Scharer, Lauren Kiel, Ashley Kiel, Elisabeth Callen, Erin Callister, Ina Campbell, Emma Anderson, Lauren Grossman, Carrie Landin and Anne Nederveld
The Annals of Family Medicine September 2021, 19 (5) 466; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2685
Jennifer K. Carroll
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: jennifer.2.carroll@cuanschutz.edu
Leonard Finn
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kirsten Scharer
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Lauren Kiel
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ashley Kiel
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Elisabeth Callen
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Erin Callister
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ina Campbell
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Emma Anderson
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Lauren Grossman
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Carrie Landin
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Anne Nederveld
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

THE INNOVATION

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an unanticipated innovation: the transition from in-person to telehealth group visits in a mindful-eating healthy nutrition program.

WHO AND WHERE

We provide our group visit program at 2 locations: a family physician–owned practice (Needham Wellesley Family Medicine PC, Wellesley, Masschusetts) and an integrative medicine practice within an academic medical center health system (UC Health Integrative Medicine Center, Denver, Colorado).

HOW

The curriculum consists of 10 weekly 2-hour sessions, followed by 3 monthly 2-hour refresher sessions. Interested eligible individuals are recruited through referrals from primary care physicians, clinical colleagues, or self-referral. Staff screen and refer patients to verify eligibility and ensure understanding of the program. Weekly visits are facilitated by a physician and an experienced mindfulness teacher using a manualized mindful-eating healthy nutrition curriculum. During each session, participants discuss their goals, struggles, insights, and progress.

In May 2020, COVID-19 caused the Wellesley site to successfully ransition from in-person to telehealth visits via use of its HIPAA-compliant, institutionally approved telehealth platform (Zoom). Before each virtual visit, links to the telehealth session, pre-visit questionnaires, and teaching materials are e-mailed to patients. Based on the initial experience in Wellesley, the Denver site implemented telehealth group visits in early 2021.

LEARNING

In contrast to our independent site, start-up for our site within the large health system was labor- and time-consuming, with administrative, logistical, technological, and regulatory issues.

Challenges

Clinicians and patients had to become familiar with the telehealth software, have access to a device with a camera and microphone, and have an adequate Internet connection. Virtual meeting environments may be less quiet than office space. Another challenge was learning to send questionnaires and education materials to patients, who must download and return them quickly. For patients unfamiliar with technology, we used postal mail, resulting in delays. An ongoing challenge is remotely measuring patients’ weight, blood pressure, and waist circumference. Administrative challenges included scheduling, training staff, and navigating and procuring administrative, billing, documentation, and institutional review board (IRB) approvals.

Benefits

Overall, the transition to telehealth has been easier than anticipated. Telehealth benefits include no commute time, parking issues, stairs, or other accommodations; a more streamlined check-in and ability to send materials in advance; and no need for meeting space. It was easier to pair patients to share experiences in virtual breakout rooms than in a meeting room. Patient participation and interactivity were more robust than expected. Attendance and retention appreciably improved.

Potential Losses

Converting from in-person to telehealth changes some teaching materials. We also lost the ability to serve healthy snacks and chat before, during, and after the visit. Group dynamics are more difficult to appreciate. Participants with vision impairments could not attend sessions. Further, without full body language visible, telehealth visits require adaptation of communication skills such as adequate pauses to ensure a person has finished speaking.

Footnotes

  • Conflicts of interest: authors report none.

  • Supplemental material (affiliations, key words) at https://www.AnnFamMed.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1370/afm.2685/-/DC1.

  • Received for publication November 4, 2020.
  • Revision received December 18, 2020.
  • Accepted for publication January 4, 2021.
  • © 2021 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

The Annals of Family Medicine: 19 (5)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 19 (5)
Vol. 19, Issue 5
1 Sep 2021
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
  • The Issue in Brief
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Annals of Family Medicine.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Moving From In-Person to Telehealth Group Visits for a Mindful-Eating Healthy Nutrition Program
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Annals of Family Medicine
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Annals of Family Medicine web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
3 + 1 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Moving From In-Person to Telehealth Group Visits for a Mindful-Eating Healthy Nutrition Program
Jennifer K. Carroll, Leonard Finn, Kirsten Scharer, Lauren Kiel, Ashley Kiel, Elisabeth Callen, Erin Callister, Ina Campbell, Emma Anderson, Lauren Grossman, Carrie Landin, Anne Nederveld
The Annals of Family Medicine Sep 2021, 19 (5) 466; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2685

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Get Permissions
Share
Moving From In-Person to Telehealth Group Visits for a Mindful-Eating Healthy Nutrition Program
Jennifer K. Carroll, Leonard Finn, Kirsten Scharer, Lauren Kiel, Ashley Kiel, Elisabeth Callen, Erin Callister, Ina Campbell, Emma Anderson, Lauren Grossman, Carrie Landin, Anne Nederveld
The Annals of Family Medicine Sep 2021, 19 (5) 466; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2685
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • THE INNOVATION
    • WHO AND WHERE
    • HOW
    • LEARNING
    • Footnotes
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Tobacco Cessation Champions: Recognizing Physicians Who Ask, Advise, and Refer
  • Patients Deserve Great Service: The Waiting Room Concierge
  • Facing the Digital Divide: Increasing Video Visits Among Veterans Experiencing Homelessness
Show more Innovations in Primary Care

Similar Articles

Subjects

  • Domains of illness & health:
    • Health promotion
  • Core values of primary care:
    • Access
  • Other topics:
    • Health informatics

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Past Issues in Brief
  • Multimedia
  • Articles by Type
  • Articles by Subject
  • Multimedia
  • Supplements
  • Online First
  • Calls for Papers

Info for

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Media
  • Job Seekers

Engage

  • E-mail Alerts
  • e-Letters (Comments)
  • RSS
  • Journal Club
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Subscribe
  • Family Medicine Careers

About

  • About Us
  • Editorial Board & Staff
  • Sponsoring Organizations
  • Copyrights & Permissions
  • Contact Us
  • eLetter/Comments Policy

© 2023 Annals of Family Medicine