TeenLYFT

Am I eligible and what would I need to do?

To be eligible, you must:

1. Be between 12–18 years of age.
2. Have parent/guardian permission to participate if you are a minor.
3. Be a patient referred for bariatric surgery at Children's Health.
4. Not have diabetes that requires taking mealtime insulin.
5. Have a Facebook or YouTube account to access the healthy lifestyle intervention.

If you meet the requirements and enroll in the research study, you will invited to join a private Facebook group and YouTube channel to access the healthy lifestyle intervention. The intervention is composed of short 3-5 minute informative videos on how to prepare for bariatric surgery and how to stay healthy after surgery. We estimate the intervention would take up to 26 hours across a span of 18 months. This would involve mostly watching videos at your own pace. If you choose to, you may also connect with others going through their weight loss journey.

There will be 3 online surveys that you will need to complete. These usually take 5-10 minutes. The first one will be during study enrollment. The second and third will be after surgery, and both will be emailed to you. Surveys will let us know how you are doing and if you have any suggestions to help us improve the program.

If you have the bariatric surgery, you may be provided a fitness tracker, a smart scale, and fitness equipment (see Incentives). To qualify for these, you must agree to 1) wear the fitness tracker for the duration of the study, including when sleeping, taking if off only when bathing or to charge; 2) weigh yourself weekly on the smart scale; and 3) use the fitness equipment during your exercises. All items are yours to keep if you complete the study.

If you, your parents, or your doctor ever feel that the study is not right for you, you can always leave at any time and without consequences. Participating or not participating in this study will not have any impact on the clinical care that you receive at Children's Health.

What would I get for participating?

Taking part in this study will get you access to a lifestyle intervention program to assist you in getting ready for bariatric surgery and help you achieve and maintain success afterwards. The video content was developed in coordination with the weight wellness clinicians at Children's Health. You will also be able to connect with other teens who are having bariatric surgery, ask questions, and hear about what successes and difficulties they have faced before and after surgery.

Additionally, you may be eligible to receive up to $75, provided as three gift cards at different times during the study for your participation. The first gift card of $20 after the 6-week phone interview, the second gift card of $25 after the 3-month survey, and the final gift card of $30 after the 6-month survey and phone interview.

To help you succeed with losing weight and staying healthy, you may also receive the following items:

Before Surgery

After Surgery^†

^{* Limited quantities available
† Limited number of participants will be selected to take part in post-surgery portion}