Healthcare Education

Utilizing her expertise in research methods, statistics, and the intersections of weight science, weight stigma, and healthcare practice, Ragen Chastain has delivered compelling, evidence-based Keynotes, Grand Rounds, and Continuing Education to diverse healthcare and public health professional audiences including medical conferences, hospital systems, private practices, medical and public health schools, and more. 

For more information or to book a speaking engagement email ragen@weightandhealthcare.com

"As an MD-PhD I was floored at her ability to explain complicated medical and research concepts
in accessible ways." -RS, MD-PhD


"I'm writing to thank you. I know that I was resistant to what you were teaching our practice initially. Things that you said really stuck with me and as I've been reading the research you mentioned I kept having experiences working with my larger patients that reminded me of exactly what you have been teaching about. And I'm already seeing positive benefits to focusing on behaviors rather than weight loss."  - GH, MD

Topics

Healthcare for Every Body – Caring for Higher Weight Patients - A comprehensive look at what research and lived experience tell us about the best ways to care for higher weight patients, the ways that weight stigma impacts healthcare from research to direct care, and what healthcare practitioners can do to make sure that they are providing the highest level of evidence-based, ethical care to patients of all sizes. 

Beyond the Hype - What the Research Tells Us About GLP-1s for Weight Loss- From PSAs to medical drama plotlines to headlines, GLP-1 weight loss drugs seem to be almost everywhere, promising almost everything. In this workshop (available in one or two parts) we’ll go behind all the marketing hype and dig into what the research actually says about these drugs including long-term weight loss and health-related outcomes. We’ll also explore what we don’t yet know and how providers can ensure that they are providing accurate information and ethical informed consent to patients around these drugs. 

What is Weight-Inclusive Care? There is a lot of discussion and confusion around exactly what weight-inclusive care means and when it is an ethical, evidence-based option. In this talk we'll dig into the research for weight-inclusive care for general health as well as for specific diagnoses, allowing providers to offer appropriate information, informed consent, and shared decision-making around these options. 

Wellness Care for People of Size - A discussion of the ways that weight stigma impacts healthcare - from research to direct care to public health messaging - and how those messages can impact patient and practitioner relationships with bodies, food, movement, and health. We’ll break down what research and lived experience tell us about the best ways to care for higher-weight patients, and discuss healthcare and public health messaging best practices that engage people of all sizes to support their health through prevention, promotion, and protection. 

Public Health for Every Body - In this workshop we'll learn what research and lived experience teach us about creating evidence-based public health campaigns that engage people of all sizes while avoiding common pitfalls that can create weight stigma, shame, and oppression and drive disengagement. 

Customized talks are also available to ensure that you get the information you want and need. 

Reach out to get more information or schedule a speaking engagement at ragen@weightandhealthcare.com

Speaking Engagements (Partial List)

Massachusetts General Hospital
MGH Institute of Health Professions Conference
Keynote: One Size Doesn't Fit All: Anti-Fat Bias in Genetic Counseling
With Leeran Dublin-Ryan, PhD, MS, CGC

Memorial Sloan Kettering
Organization-wide talk and Q&A
Weight in Medical Research and Practice 

Yale New Haven Hospital/Yale School of Medicine
Talk and Q&A on Weight Neutral Health: Internal Medicine Residents, Yale New Haven Hospital
All College Program for Humanities in Medicine/Poynter Lecture: Healthcare for Every Body – Best Practices for Caring for Higher Weight Patients

Indiana WIC Annual Statewide Conference
Keynote - Healthcare for Every Body - Caring for Our Higher-Weight Clients

Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists/British Columbia Anesthesiologists Society Annual Conference
Keynote: Anesthesia for Every Body: Caring for Higher-Weight Patients
Panel: Comprehensive Anesthesia Care for Higher Weight Patients: an Expert Discussion with Sandy Pitfield, MD and Lisa Erlanger, MD

Eating Disorder Coalition of Iowa - Annual Conference 
 Day 1 Keynote Speaker - four 1.5 hour talks

Maryland WIC
Keynote: Healthcare for Every Body - Caring for Higher-Weight Patients

University of Minnesota Medical School
Guest Lecture: Caring for Higher-Weight Patients Weight Stigma and the 2SLGBTQIA Community

Kaiser Permanente
600 Healthcare Practitioners
CME Keynote: Weight Bias in Healthcare 

Twin Cities Pediatric Update
Endowed Endocrinology Keynote
​Caring for Higher-Weight Patients: The Weight-Neutral Health Paradigm

Harlem Family Health Center
Grand Rounds 
Wellness Care for People of Size

Connecticut Department of Health
Keynote: Weight Stigma in Diabetes and Heart Disease Care​

​Reproductive Health National Training Center
Training with Dr. Jeffrey Hunger
Weight Stigma and Bias in Sexual and Reproductive Health Care

Children's Minnesota
Grand Rounds
Caring for Higher-Weight Patients - The Weight-Neutral Health Paradigm 

New York Department of Health
Keynote: Weight Neutral Options in SNAP Education

Jacobi Medical Center/North Central Bronx Hospital
Grand Rounds
Reproductive Care for Higher-Weight Patients

University of Minnesota 
Grand Rounds - Department of Family and Community Health
Caring for Higher Weight Patients

Los Angeles County Department of Health
Keynote: Public Health for Every Body

Nationwide Children's Hospital
Healthcare Practitioners and Staff
Keynote: Weight Bias in Healthcare

Telus Health
Keynote
Weight Bias in Healthcare

Interior Health Canada
Keynote
Weight Bias in Healthcare

Lindner Center of HOPE
Staff Training - Dealing with Diet Culture 

Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists National Conference
 5,000 clinicians, researchers, academicians and industry leaders to address key issues affecting people with diabetes,
 prediabetes and other cardiometabolic conditions

Planned Parenthood
NC, SC, VA and WV affiliate
Workshop: Healthcare for Every Body - The Weight-Neutral Health Paradigm

EAHEC - Diabetes Care and Education Conference
103 Dietitians, Nurses, Pharmacists, and other healthcare practitioners
Keynote: Movement and Diabetes Management for Larger People

Nurses for Sexual & Reproductive Health
Workshop: Weight Bias in Healthcare

University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine
Psychiatry Department
Keynote: Weight Bias in Healthcare

Community Health Association of Mountain/Plains States Health Equity Series
Healthcare Practitioners and staff from Region VIII (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming)
Keynote: Weight Bias In Healthcare

University of Utah School of Medicine
Physicians Assistant Program
Keynote: Weight Bias in Healthcare

New England and New York College Health Association Annual Conference, Burlington Vermont
 400 health promotion professionals 
 Keynote:  Wellness Care for People of Size
 Breakout: Health at Every Size in Public Health Messages

Montana Population Health Summit 
 Clinicians and administrators for over 80 community health center sites across Montana
 Keynote: Wellness Care For People Of All Sizes

Dartmouth College Health Services Practitioners and Staff
Keynote: Healthcare for Every Body – Caring for Higher Weight Patients

University of Michigan School of Public Health 
Keynote: Eliminating Weight Bias in Public Health Messaging

Long Island University School of Public Health Professions
Keynote: Public Health for People of Size

Texas A&M University  - School for Rural Public Health
Keynote: Wellness Care for People of Size 

San Francisco State University - Student Dietetic Association
Keynote: Wellness Care for People of Size

University of Michigan School of Social Work
Social Work Grand Rounds - Weight Bias in Social Work

University of Texas at Austin Student Health Services Practitioners and Staff
Keynote:  Public Health for People of Size

National College of Natural Medicine 
Keynote: Wellness Care for People of Size

Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association National Conference, Boston Massachusetts
 150  doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, dietitians and other healthcare professionals   who focus on the treatment and care of patients with eating disorders 
 Keynote:Size Acceptance and Eating Disorders: A Critical, Crucial, Core Conversation

New Hampshire Eating Disorder Conference, Plymouth, NH
150  doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, dietitians and other healthcare             professionals who focus on the treatment and care of patients with eating disorders 
Keynote: Size Acceptance and Eating Disorders: A Critical, Crucial, Core Conversation
 Breakout: Athletes at Every Size

Carolina House Symposium, Durham, NC
 100 doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, dietitians and other healthcare professionals   who focus on the treatment and care of patients with eating disorders
 Keynote:  Social Justice through Health at Every Size and Size Acceptance​