The research co–principal investigators are Dr Elanor Hinton (Research Fellow in THS) and Professor Julian Hamilton-Shield (clinical lead of Care of Childhood Obesity clinic & THS) together with Dr Aidan Searle (Research Fellow, Dental School) as lead on qualitative methodology and Jennifer Cox (Chartered Health Psychologist/current GW4 MRC DTP student) as Research Associate and therapist. The work will also benefit from the expertise of Drs Giri and Semple from the Care of Childhood Obesity (CoCO) clinic, Professor Ingram Wright (ACT expert) and Dr Rebecca Kandiyali (health economics).
This research aims to co-develop a person-centred intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), focusing on understanding and accommodating the views of the people who will use the intervention, to improve its relevance, and outcomes for them and to increase participation in and adherence to the programme. The ACT programme will be delivered one-to-one to the young people. Qualitative interviews will be conducted with participants at the end of each session to gain an understanding of the comprehensibility, acceptability, and value of intervention components to take forward to a consensus meeting.