Session 2: Participatory Modeling Approaches to Improving Nutrition and Health

9:30-10:50 AM | Room 104

A Participatory Approach to Modeling how Social, Behavioral, and Medical Factors Connect to Well-Being and Obesity

Philippe J. Giabbanelli
University of Cambridge

Andrew Tugwell and Lydia Drasic
Provincial Health Services Authority of British Columbia

Diane T. Finegood and Grace MacEwan
Simon Fraser University

Shifting focus from weight to well-being could improve the outcome of interventions targeting obesity. Examining the consequences of this paradigm shift requires an understanding of the differences between focusing on well-being and weight. We developed and analyzed a systems map centered on well-being and weight to understand these differences. Our approach combined participatory modeling with data analytics. Specifically, we took a systems approach to extract and combine maps from interviews. Our network analyses of the map and text analytics of the interviews showed that well-being and weight-centric perspectives trigger complementary parts of the system, suggesting that both are needed.

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Bayesian Modeling

Jarrod Dalton
Cleveland Clinic

Darcy Freedman, Nicole Vaudrin, and Rho Olaisen
Case Western Reserve University

Patricia Bebo
Ohio State University

Ashley Davis

The purpose of this presentation is to describe a participatory modeling approach designed to inform the development of a diagnostic tool for use by nutrition and public health practitioners as they select, implement, and sustain food systems interventions targeting low-income consumers. Data informing the diagnostic tool include qualitative interviews with public health and nutrition practitioners and community stakeholders, which are then weighted using a participatory process. Weighted data are then translated into a diagnostic tool for community assessment using a probabilistic belief network model.