Findings and Recommendations From the Interim Evaluation of the Bright Futures for Women’s Health and Wellness Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Tools

Abstract

The Bright Futures for Women’s Health and Wellness Initiative (BFWHW) Physical Activity and Healthy Eating tools encourage patient–provider discussion in the primary care setting, and promote patient self-management, goal setting, and behavior change. An interim evaluation of the BFWHW tools with 274 female adult patients, 18 providers, and 4 site administrators was conducted at 4 health care sites in the United States. Results suggest that patients, particularly overweight women, were interested in discussing healthy eating and physical activity with their provider during the health care visit and that the tools were helpful for goal setting. Nearly three quarters of providers reported that the materials strengthened their discussion of healthy eating with patients; 67% reported an enhanced conversation about physical activity. Site administrators reported several common themes, including the need for flexibility to adopt new routines and using a patient self-management approach. Barriers to implementation included lack of time in the clinical visit and lack of reimbursement. Recommendations for new approaches to address multiple structural, financial, and literacy barriers in order to facilitate the integration of gender-specific health promotion materials into primary care settings are discussed.