A guide for anyone who wants to write and talk about obesity and people with obesity in a way that is empathetic, responsible and without reproducing hurtful stereotypes.
In response to the growing verbal discrimination against obese patients and the campaign's goal of sensitising the public to the fact that the way we speak about and to sick people has a real impact on their health, motivation, self-esteem and emotional state, a unique study has been created and is now available to you. We hope that it will prove to be a practical communication tool that will help shape an inclusive language around obesity that is in line with current medical knowledge and thus facilitate emotional understanding with patients.
For the purposes of the project, a representative opinion poll was conducted in May this year with more than 1,000 respondents: both obese and healthy. The results of the survey made it possible to analyse the quality and frequency of words used in relation to people with obesity and describing the symptoms of this disease. On this basis, stigmatising and supportive words were identified, and practical examples and recommendations were made on how to consciously build empathic communication that puts the patient and their dignity as an inalienable human right first.
The study was developed through the substantive involvement of interdisciplinary Experts:
prof. dr hab. n. med. Pawel Bogdanski - President of the Polish Society for the Treatment of Obesity
Mariusz Wyleżoł, MD, PhD - Vice-President of the Polish Society for the Treatment of Obesity,
Adrianna Sobol - psychologist, working with people suffering from obesity, creator of the "Caring for the sick worker" portal
Beata Dadla - TV and radio journalist and presenter:.
The results of the study were also accompanied by personal comments from patients suffering from obesity:
- Katarzyna Głowińska - President of the Foundation for the Treatment of Obesity
- Emilia Modrzynska - Ambassador of the campaign "Let's talk frankly about obesity"
Patronage of the study was taken by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Poland, the Polish Language Council of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Institute for Patient Rights and Health Education, FLO - Foundation for the Treatment of Obesity, the portal "W trosce o chorego pracownika"