Breaking down barriers to support people living with obesity

In Montmagny, a small Quebec coastal town on the St. Lawrence River, patients, health professionals, community workers, policymakers and residents have come together to find creative ways to deal with a public-health crisis: obesity.

The goal: to develop more compassionate approaches grounded in the lived experience of those living with a disease that affects one in four Canadians.

Why Montmagny? Because this small town in the predominantly rural Chaudière-Appalaches region has seen a marked increase in obesity, due in part to its rapidly aging population.

Enter Laurence Berthelet, a resident of the Quebec City suburb of Lévis and a public-health professional.

She had long wanted to find better ways to support people considered obese (the term recommended by Collectif Vital, a Montreal-based organization that promotes a weight-inclusive, non-stigmatizing approach to obesity).

Thanks to the Fonds de recherche du Québec’s Engagement program, Berthelet was able to join forces with Dr. Géraldine Layani, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine at Université de Montréal.

Together they launched COLLAB-INTER-360-Obésité, an inclusive, cross-sector initiative focused on developing solutions grounded in people’s everyday lives.

“Obesity is a complex chronic disease that affects 27 per cent of Canadians and is associated with serious complications, mortality and stigmatization,” said Layani. “Yet our healthcare system continues to focus too heavily on treatment, while giving too little attention to prevention and the social determinants of health.”

As its stated mission, COLLAB-INTER-360-Obésité harnesses the power of collaboration to build a learning community in which participants can share their experiences and contribute to finding concrete solutions that improve quality of life and care pathways for people considered obese.

Berthelet sees the initiative as a springboard for changing practices.

“There’s a lot of talk about the healthcare system being in crisis," she said. "But I believe this is also an opportunity to rethink how we do things. When we co-create with local communities, solutions aren’t imposed from the outside but instead emerge from genuine needs and existing resources.”

Local consultations, collaborative workshops and open discussion are used to build the learning community and to fuel reflection. An initial workshop in March 2025 focused on building strong collaborative relationships.

“The participants are highly motivated to work together,” noted Layani. “They are eager to get to know each other and develop open, constructive dialogue.”

In May 2025, a second workshop in Montmagny  was attended by about 20 people. Over the course of three hours, they worked in small groups to discuss fictional case studies—based on real patient experiences—displayed on posters. Everyone pitched in to come up with solutions and implementation strategies.

A third workshop, scheduled for the fall, will formalize the learning community’s governance. A citizen forum will also be organized to inform the Montmagny community of the research process and results.