Nutrition, Health Behavior and Obesity Research Lab

CLIMB: Co-Developing a Lifestyle-Modification Digital Intervention Adjunct to Incretin-Based Obesity Management Medications (OMMs)
CLIMB is a multi-phase mixed-methods research program aimed at informing the development of an evidence-based, stakeholder-informed lifestyle-modification intervention to accompany incretin-based obesity pharmacotherapy. 

While incretin-based OMMs are highly effective for weight loss, real-world care still lacks clear, patient-centered guidance on how to integrate adjunct nutritional, physical-activity, and overall behavioral support across treatment stages. CLIMB addresses this gap by combining complementary studies that capture both patient and clinician perspectives on needs, barriers, facilitators, and preferred components of adjunct care, with the goal of informing intervention co-development and future testing within a clinical healthcare-based setting.

CLIMB sub-studies (Phase 1) include the following:

Evaluation of Barriers and Facilitators to Lifestyle Modification During Incretin-Based OMM Use: A qualitative study using in-depth semi-structured interviews to explore patients’ lived experiences during OMMs treatment, and identify barriers and facilitators to adopting and sustaining healthy dietary and physical activity behaviors during OMMs treatment. 

Patient Needs, Preferences, and Experience regarding Lifestyle-Modification Interventions Adjunct to Incretin-Based OMMs: A cross-sectional patient survey assessing preferences for counseling components (e.g., content, frequency, delivery mode, provider type) and examining differences by treatment stage and patient characteristics.

Health Care Professionals’ Preferences for Behavioral Support during Incretin-Based OMMs: A clinician survey assessing current practices and preferred frameworks for adjunct behavioral support, including content priorities, timing across treatment stages, delivery formats, and perceived barriers to implementation.

Setting

University of Haifa, Israel (academic and clinical partners; multi-site collaborations)

Primary Supervision
Dr. Tair Ben-Porat

Research Team
Dr. Shiri Sherf-Dagan
Prof. Anat Gesser-Edelsburg
Prof. Yael Bar Zeev
Dr. Rana Hijazi
Gal Peleg Ziv
Odeya Cohen
Shir Atia
Haya Subhi
Jiska Sulamith Suckut
Cherie Miner
Liya Mashiah

Status
Phase 1 sub-studies ongoing (ethics approvals per sub-study); data collection and analyses underway.

Useful links
https://osf.io/fb5a9/overview