A preliminary description of the use of ‘Relapse Management Cards’ in anorexia nervosa

Abstract

This paper describes the preliminary and novel use of 'Relapse Management Cards' in a group of inpatients with a diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa. During the study period, 41 patients completed 'Relapse Management Cards' during facilitated family meetings. The patient generated the information contained in the card. Cross-sectional analysis of the data contained in the cards provides information on plans to prevent relapse, signs of relapse and plans in the event of relapse. Certain parts of the 'Relapse Management Cards' were more frequently completed than other parts. Early experience suggests that 'Relapse Management Cards' may be an effective way of eliciting patients' ideas on care after discharge. There is increasing interest in the use of advance directives in psychiatry to which the 'Relapse Management Card' has relevance.

The place of inpatient care in the treatment of anorexia nervosa: Questions to be answered

“…The high relapse rates, despite intensive treatment (Pike, 1998), are still a serious challenge, but research on aftercare or relapse prevention in anorexia nervosa remains minimal (Grigoriadis, Kaplan, Carter, & Woodiside, 2001;Page, Sutherby, & Treasure, 2002). Many clinicians underscore the importance of the transition process from inpatient treatment to outpatient services and the need to develop a more effective long-term plan to reduce relapse rates.…”

Naturalistic follow-up of subjects affected with anorexia nervosa 8 years after multimodal treatment: Personality and psychopathology changes and predictors of outcome

“…In addition to the heterogeneity of the findings, a major limit of follow-up studies is that they are mostly based on objective symptoms and body weight [11–13] while emotional and behavioral aspects are often neglected, despite evidences that residual emotional and psychosocial impairments increase relapse risk [14–17].…”

Recovery from Disordered Eating: Sufferers' and Clinicians' Perspectives

“…However, a number of areas of the individual's life that are not directly related to eating disorder (e.g., psychosocial criteria, emotional functioning and core beliefs contributing to self-esteem) are still absent from these definitions. This is important to note, given that relapse risk is higher for those who have ongoing social impairments (Page, Sutherby, Treasure, & Page, 2002), recovery requires improvements in emotional management (Cochrane, Brewerton, Wilson, & Hodges, 1993), and unhelpful core beliefs improve during recovery (Jones, Harris, & Leung, 2005). Therefore, Noordenbos and Seubring (2006) summarised criteria drawn from the broad literature (Table 1).…”