This activity is supported by an educational grant from Lilly.
Program Description:
Despite its growing prevalence and the availability of FDA-approved therapies, obesity remains undertreated in the United States. Persons navigating obesity care face a complex set of challenges that extend well beyond clinical criteria, including weight stigma encountered in health care settings, limited access to and affordability of newer agents, uncertainty about long-term treatment expectations, and high rates of discontinuation driven by adverse effects and inadequate counseling support. This panel discussion brings together multidisciplinary faculty to examine the evidence base for GLP-1 RA, dual GIP/GLP-1 RA therapies, and emerging therapies; explore strategies for overcoming barriers to access and medication-taking behaviors; and model the interprofessional communication and collaborative decision-making that supports optimal, person-centered obesity care. The discussion will encompass how to balance pharmacotherapy and intensified lifestyle interventions, navigate access and affordability barriers, and support persons with obesity through the sustained behavioral and clinical needs of long-term treatment. This activity will include videos of a person with obesity, faculty perspectives, as well as a case-based workshop to support best practices to apply insights to real-world clinical scenarios, equipping pharmacists to advocate for persons with obesity at every stage of their treatment journey. Participants will be provided with a Train-the-Trainer toolkit that includes resources to support delivery of person-centered obesity care and management.
Target audience: Community pharmacists
Type of activity: Application
Release date: August 27, 2026
Expiration date: October 27, 2026
Time to complete activity: 1.5 hours
Learner level: Foundational, Intermediate
Fee: Free
Educational
Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Analyze real-world patterns of clinical inertia in obesity pharmacotherapy, including factors contributing to delayed initiation and under-intensification of GLP-1 RA and dual GIP/GLP-1 RA therapies
- Explore strategies for addressing weight bias, treatment access, and delivering culturally competent counseling to support shared decision-making and person-centered care
- Apply evidence-based strategies to overcome system- and patient-level barriers, manage adverse effects, and support lifestyle modifications in persons initiating or maintaining GLP-1 RA and dual GIP/GLP-1 RA therapies for obesity
- Determine best practices for communication, counseling, and education for obesity pharmacotherapy initiation and maintenance that reflect the roles of pharmacists within multidisciplinary care teams