Weight Bias Reducation Intervention With Nursing Students Using Simulation: The BRAVE Study
The BRAVE Study: A Sensitivity Intervention With Nursing Students Using Simulation
Who can join
Ages 18 to 35 · All sexes
Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Nursing students aged 18-35 * Nursing students during their second or fourth year of the traditional or FLEX BSN undergraduate curriculum (in specified nursing courses) Exclusion Criteria: * Non-nursing students * Nursing students taking courses out of the normal curriculum sequence * Nursing students who are not of traditional undergraduate ages (18-35 years) * Students who decline to consent
About the study
This randomized controlled trial will be a curriculum-embedded weight sensitivity training program. There will be two groups. The control group will receive the standard obesity lecture (SOL) and the intervention group will receive the BRAVE Intervention (BRAVE: Building Respect and Acceptance through Valuing Everybody); a Weight Bias Reduction (WBR) intervention. Both groups will have two simulation encounters with standardized patients who are living with obesity and the outcome will be to improve weight bias and increase weight sensitivity over one year. Participants will include second- and fourth-year nursing students. Two cohorts of nursing students will be recruited over two years during orientation for their NUR courses (n = 368); a combined total of 420 students are typically enrolled in these courses. Study participants will be randomized by 8-person simulation groups (clusters) to either the BRAVE intervention or SOL control group. They will then participate in the two simulation-based experiences and weight bias reduction education or standard obesity lecture, respectively, with a debriefing segment and educational components. To compare the efficacy of BRAVE groups to SOL groups in validated questionnaires will assess changing attitudes, beliefs, and clinical communication behaviors when comparing baseline to 3 months post-intervention, and one year after the intervention.
What is being tested
- BRAVE (behavioral)
- SOL: Standard Obesity Lecture (behavioral)
Sponsor: Villanova University · Participants: 368 · Started: Jan 12, 2026
Contact the study team
- Tracy L. Oliver, PhD, RDN, LDN · Phone: 610-519-4917
Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT07334470
Locations in the U.S.
| Pennsylvania | Villanova University, Villanova |
Conditions
From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.