NIHR RIGHT 7: Co-creation of a national technology-enabled program for weight management in Thailand
Project disclaimer
Description
A UK and low- and middle-income country (LMIC) research partnership which aims to improve weight management in Thailand. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in Thailand and obesity is one of the main causes of heart disease. Technology has the potential to improve the quality of weight management services at a low cost. However, research is needed to ensure that these features would be equally accessible and effective for various disadvantaged groups in Thailand. This award aims to understand whether weight management programs that use technology can be an economical way for Thailand’s government to help people to lose weight and lower their risk of heart disease. Specifically, this research will work to reduce the risk of heart disease for 250,000 people in Thailand each year, with the potential for other countries facing similar challenges to also benefit. Commencing in March 2025, this award will assess the current situation in Thailand to understand what issues are important for the weight management program to be effective before working with healthcare providers and overweight people to develop two weight management programs. These will involve technology at two different price points, making sure that they are appealing for the elderly, poor and those living in rural or remote areas. Both interventions will be tested via a large study involving 4,500 overweight people across 60 health centres in Thailand, comparing those who use the two programs with people who are only given some advice, before the cost-effectiveness of the programme and whether it offers Thai taxpayers value for money will be assessed.
Objectives
The award has four objectives: 1. Undertake context (behavioural, technological, and organisational) analysis to inform intervention development. 2. Co-create technology-enabled interventions for two price points being considered by the Thai policy makers, and assess their acceptability to diverse socio-demographic groups. 3. Evaluate the effectiveness of intervention using a cluster randomised trial. 4. Conduct economic evaluation and develop service standards for the interventions.
Location
The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.
Status Implementation
The current stage of the Programme, consistent with the International Aid Transparency Initiative's (IATI) classifications.
Programme Spend
Programme budget and spend to date, as per the amounts loaded in financial system(s), and for which procurement has been finalised.
Participating Organisation(s)
Help with participating organisations
Accountable:Organisation responsible for oversight of the activity
Extending: Organisation that manages the budget on behalf of the funding organisation.
Funding: Organisation which provides funds.
Implementing: Organisations implementing the activity.
- Accountable
- Extending
- Funding
- Implementing
Sectors
Sector groups as a percentage of total Programme budget according to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) classifications.
Budget
A comparison across financial years of forecast budget and spend to date on the Programme.