Equitable Care Webinar Series: Evidence and Strategies to Tackle Weight Stigma in Your Practice

Join WCAAP’s Equitable Care Committee on Wednesday, December 4th 7-8AM as we welcome Dr. Amelia McClelland and Dr. Laura Hooper who will discuss weight-based stigma and how to address it within your practice.

About the presenters:

Laura Hooper, PhD, MS, RD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Indiana University. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on improving health outcomes and decreasing inequities related to disordered eating, nutrition, physical activity, and weight in diverse populations of adolescents. Her current work uses solutions-oriented approaches and aims to decrease weight stigma experienced in healthcare settings in partnership with adolescents, families, and healthcare providers.

Dr. Hooper was born and raised in Seattle, WA. In 2002, she earned a BS in chemistry at Western Washington University. In 2007, she earned an MS in nutritional science and completed her training as a registered dietitian at the University of Washington. From 2007-2017, she worked as a clinical pediatric dietitian in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital where she and her interdisciplinary team provided eating disorder care and weight management care to adolescents using a strengths-based, adolescent-centered approach. From 2017-2022, she earned a PhD in nutrition with a doctoral minor in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota. From 2022-2024, she completed the T32 Midwest Regional Postdoctoral Training Program in Eating Disorders Research at the University of Minnesota. She loves speaking to healthcare providers about evidence and strategies to decrease weight stigma in their practice!

Amelia McClelland, PhD is a psychologist from Community Health of Central Washington where she has worked as Behavioral Health Consultant for the past 6 years. Although she has worked across the lifespan, she is particularly passionate about working with pediatrics and young adults. Her experience includes clinical work in school-based health, family medicine and pediatric clinics and as a faculty member for the behavioral health and family medicine residency programs. She also works with medical students from WSU and PNWU regularly as well as pediatric residents on their outpatient rotations from Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Dr. McClelland is passionate about supporting youth in underserved areas, working with LGBTQIA+ populations, and working with multidisciplinary teams to support local families. She helped to start Yakima Pediatrics’ gender clinic in 2019 and continues to work within the family medicine residency to upskill behavioral health and medical providers on patient care with LGBTQIA+ populations and on topics such as weight bias in healthcare and working with children, teens, and families. She has also done presentations for The National Association of Nurse Practitioners, the Yakima School District, Catholic Charities, The Society and Teaching of Family Medicine, and the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association addressing these topics and more.