🎙️ This episode is sponsored. Obesity Canada received an unrestricted educational grant from Eli Lilly Canada to produce this episode. 🎙️

Access to obesity treatment in Canada can feel like a maze—for both patients and healthcare professionals.

In this episode of Scale Up Your Practice, we sit down with Dr. Ian Patton, Obesity Canada’s Director of Advocacy and Public Engagement, to talk about the barriers people face in accessing obesity care—and how clinicians and patients can work together to change that.

From the everyday challenges of navigating authorizations and waitlists to the bigger system-level barriers, Ian shares practical strategies clinicians can use to support patients within the realities of our current healthcare system—while working toward a more equitable one.

In this episode:

• Why access to evidence-based obesity care remains inconsistent across Canada

• How delays, denials, and system barriers affect patient motivation and health

• Practical steps clinicians can take to reduce friction and improve efficiency

• The power of communication, empathy, and trust in patient advocacy

• How peer support and communities like OC Connect empower patients

• What needs to change at a system level to make equitable care possible
  

Additional resources:

• OC Connect patient community:https://utm.guru/ujesc 

• Private insurance appeal letter: https://utm.guru/ujesd 

• Workplace & employer resources: https://utm.guru/ujese 

• Tell your government representative to recognize obesity as a chronic disease: https://utm.guru/ujesf 

• The Patient-Physician Partnership in Advocacy: https://utm.guru/ujesg 

Don’t miss the Canadian Obesity Summit 2026

Obesity Canada’s flagship scientific congress returns March 25–29, 2026, in Montréal, Québec. It’s where Canada’s obesity community—researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and lived experience advocates—comes together to share the latest science and advance care.

✨ Early bird registration is open through November 30, 2025.Register today: https://utm.guru/ujesh

📩 Have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at scaleuppod@obesitycanada.ca

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Thanks for tuning in—and stay with us as we continue to scale up your practice.