Yesterday I saw a patient who (like most of you) is losing weight very aggressively, and when I complimented her on her efforts, she said "Well, I am paying lots of money here and I will be really angry at myself if I don't lose lots of weight." This made me think that over the years, we have occasionally put a person into the program for free, such as an office manager of a specialist's practice , to show the specialist how effective our program is. We stopped doing this awhile ago because we found that when we put a person in the program who didn't pay for it, they didn't seem to take the program as seriously as a paying patient. Perceived values of an item or service often are related to the cost of said item or service. When someone is paying 1200 bucks for a program, that is lots of money, and psychologically, that person will most definitely work very to "get their money's worth". When someone pays zero, perhaps their perceived value of what they are getting is zero, so not coming to appointments, not following the plan, etc. is the outcome.
So how can we help people, when they leave their formal visits and no longer "investing" in their weight loss efforts still keep that mindset? Perhaps a self-incentive system where if the patient keeps the weight off, they get to spend X dollars monthly on some hobby? Maybe some type of "maintenance" program where they pay a monthly fee and can come in for periodic visits?
Human nature is a very strong force and when it realtes to weight loss, this force often can affect the outcome. Your thoughts???
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I just went into maintenance for the second time and I am intrigued with this idea.
Maybe a take-off on what you told me about feeling free to come in and use the scale anytime to remain accountable but not having to pay for a visit. What if you implemented a bit of a reward program for your maintenance patients? Come in once a month to get weighed, and if you are within X lbs of your wt when you went into maintenance, then you receive X free - a box of protein bars, a small gift card, or whatever small thing you come up with as a reward. Then to take that one step further, if you come in monthly during maintence for X mos, you are put into a pool to win a free bottle of serotonin...(doubt you want to give one of those away to everyone who might suddenly be interested in weighing monthly if their motivation isn't about weight maintenance, know what I mean?).
My 2 cents.
Interesting toptic! I have come back after losing 25 lbs and gaining some of it back...it has been frustrating because I am losing such a small amount of weight..when I came in and had only lost 1/2 lb, and paid money for it I gave up and didn't come back the following week...(of course I then gained another pound!!:()...it is motivation to lose when you pay money, but it's also easy to give up when you pay and dont lose!!!!
I agree that there is an added incentive when you pay for a diet plan. However, I have paid for numerous plans over the years and have spent thousands of dollars to reach a goal and did not reach it. I have stayed with this plan, because I have lost weight on this plan, better than others. But, I also know that I am tired of spending the $$ and feel as though this may be my last chance, therefore, I know I am trying harder. However, there is a little anxiety, that when my program is over and I am not making the weekly visits, if I can maintain my weight, or if it will come back. I have to start planning for independence day, so all this effort will not be in vain.
Post a Comment