A systematic review: Solutions to problems caused by age transition between eating disorder services

Abstract

This systematic review examines age transition issues specific to young people with eating disorders, including the extent of, and reasons for, problematic transition. Suggested solutions are examined, with focus on ageintegrated services.Method: PsycINFO, Medline and SCOPUS databases were searched on 4 April, 2022 using two inclusion criteria: (1) a peer-reviewed journal article in English, (2) focus on service transition caused by moving from childhood to adulthood for people with eating disorders. A narrative integration of the content was used.Results: Of the 17 non-overlapping studies located in the review, 6 involved quantitative data. Problematic transition between age-based services was indicated, where a substantial minority of young people who still require help lose contact with speciality services. A variety of reasons for this problematic transition were identified, including differing and sometimes adversarial cultures between age-based services. While a variety of solutions have been suggested, the least explored was the development of age integrated services; only 3 papers focussed primarily on this. Conclusion:The consideration of the advantages of integration and the similarities between age-based services suggested that these potentially outweigh the barriers to integration. An implementation science research agenda is required to test this hypothesis.

Lost in between–the transition process from a child and adolescent eating disorder service to adult mental health services in the German health care system

“…In Australia, an all‐age service has been declared an innovative method to help young adults with EDs master this difficult life period by eliminating the necessity of service transfer and providing staff with special education and skills to treat this age group (Wade, 2023). Regardless, with or without an all‐age service, we need therapists and/or advisers with special training in developmentally informed care of this age group, not only during the first episode of ED, as seen in the rapid early intervention for eating disorders (FREED) established by the group of U. Schmidt (Potterton et al., 2021), but also for those who have been transferred from a CAMHS and need continuous and persistent care.…”

We need your ideas—How to deliver developmentally informed treatment and care for emerging adults with eating disorders? A special European Eating Disorder Research issue about age transitions in eating disorders

“…Some experts recommend a service that covers the age range from childhood to young adulthood; there are also emerging ideas of an all‐age service from the age of 12 years to 64+ that has been reviewed in a very recent article by Wade (2022) in this journal. All‐age services have been expanded by the Australian Federal Government since 2019.…”

An exploration of patient experiences of transitioning to a remote day programme following inpatient treatment in an adult eating disorder service

“…To our knowledge, there is limited published research exploring the experience of patients who have transitioned from inpatient ED treatment to DC treatment. However, there is a body of research that has explored other experiences of transition such as transitioning from adolescent to adult ED services (Treasure et al, 2005; Wade, 2022; Wales et al, 2022). Although some of that learning is transferable to other ED transitioning experiences, more specific knowledge is required to support MHNs to work in a collaborative and therapeutic way with patients who have transferred to a DC programme.…”