OMC-UK Webinar - Severe Mental Illness and Obesity: Navigating Medication and Care Pathways
Join us for our first webinar of 2026 on Wednesday 18th March 2026, 19:00-20:00
People living with severe mental illness (SMI) experience some of the highest rates of obesity and metabolic disease in healthcare. Antipsychotic and antidepressant medications, illness-related factors, and barriers to accessing mainstream weight-management services all contribute to this inequity. Yet current obesity pathways are often poorly aligned with the needs of people with SMI.
This webinar, presented by Dr Toby Pillinger, will explore how weight management can be delivered more effectively for people with severe mental health conditions. Drawing on clinical experience, recent evidence, and emerging NHS policy, the session will cover:
- The prevalence and impact of obesity in people with SMI
- How psychiatric medications influence weight and metabolic health
- Lived-experience perspectives on weight gain and treatment
- Evidence-based strategies for managing medication-related weight gain
- The role of GLP-1 receptor agonists and other pharmacological options
- Practical challenges in accessing Tier 3 and Tier 4 obesity services
- How obesity and mental health pathways can be better integrated
- Future directions for service design and commissioning
The talk will provide practical guidance for clinicians and commissioners working at the interface of mental health and obesity services, highlighting opportunities to improve access, equity, and outcomes for this underserved population.
We invite you to join the conversation
Sarah is currently founding a new Obesity Charity, which is aiming to be the equivalent of Diabetes UK in the obesity space, where she will be the CEO. ‘The new Obesity Charity aims to be the leading obesity charity for advancing obesity research, supporting and driving public education, a trusted resource for people living with obesity, healthcare professionals and policymakers and a support platform for people living with obesity.’
Sarah is known as a Thought Leader in the Obesity space, has a wide network of relationships with key obesity stakeholders. She is also well known in the media and is regularly called upon to give her thoughts and expertise around current Obesity affairs.
She sits of the strategic council for the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Obesity, is a patient representative on the Advisory Group on Nutrition Weight & Health for the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), a stakeholder in NHSE’s new National Obesity Audit, a representative on the OHA Healthy Weight Strategy, lived experience group, a member of Obesity Policy Engagement Network UK (OPEN UK) and recently been appointed as a lay member on the NICE Weight Management Committee.
She has also co-authored a number of published academic papers in scientific journals.
