Experience of service provision for adolescents with eating disorders

Abstract

Eating disorders of all kinds are common and serious in adolescents and young women. Recent government policies have suggested that adolescent mental health strategies should be developed. They have also laid emphasis on early intervention, accessible local provision and have identi ed eating disorders as a priority. It is acknowledged that services at primary care level for adolescents with eating disorders are sporadic or nonexistent. It was considered that a service user perspective would be bene cial in contributing to assessing the needs of adolescents with eating disorders. The research project was established to identify the service provision used, if any, by adolescent sufferers of eating disorders and what, in their opinion, would have been desirable at that time. The research consisted of a semi-structured interview with a sample of recovered adult participants to establish their experiences of services they had received as adolescents. Additionally the participants were asked what further help they felt would have been bene cial and where that help would have been usefully situated. The main ndings suggest that the majority of health professionals are ill informed and not acutely conscious of the needs of eating disordered adolescents. Only counsellors within the voluntary sector agency showed any real understanding and an ability to help constructively. It was concluded that there is a real lack of help at primary care level and that schools should play a wider role in educating adolescents in a positive belief in themselves and in the destructive nature of an eating disorder. RationaleEating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder are amongst the most common mental health problems of our time. They affect large numbers of persons and, in particular, target adolescent and young adult women (Hill and Pomeroy, 2001). Although prevalence gures for the full syndrome in that population are thought to be about 1% for anorexia and 3% for bulimia, more recent conceptualisation of terms of diagnosis in the context of a continuum of 'disordered eating' reveals a prevalence as high as 13% (Piran, 1999;Shisslak et al., 1995). In

Young people's views of UK mental health services

“…All but two studies had participants of both genders. One of these studies was based in an eating disorders setting and all six participants were female . Another small study with seven participants did not contain information about the gender of participants …”

“…Fourteen of the studies included were based on the views of adolescents under the age of 18, 15 studies covered the views of young people in their late teens and early twenties, that is, the period of transition from child to adult services. Only one study focused on young adults aged 18 and over …”

“…One of these studies was based in an eating disorders setting and all six participants were female. 27 Another small study with seven participants did not contain information about the gender of participants. 36 Fourteen of the studies included were based on the views of adolescents under the age of 18, 15 studies covered the views of young people in their late teens and early twenties, that is, the period of transition from child to adult services.…”

Access to mental health in primary care: A qualitative meta-synthesis of evidence from the experience of people from ‘hard to reach’ groups

“…While self-management strategies could be instituted by the person, it was clear that families, communities and health professionals could encourage or coerce individuals in the adoption of particular strategies (Luoma and Hakamies-Blomqvist, 2004;Rother and Buckroyd, 2004). Concealment also functioned as a coping mechanism where withdrawing from peripheral roles meant that resources (time, skills, etc.)…”

Increasing equity of access to high-quality mental health services in primary care: a mixed-methods study

“…Twenty-one papers were identified as suitable for detailed analysis: two each for advanced cancer 201,202 and adolescents with eating disorders, 203,204 one each for homelessness 205 and employment problems, 206 two for older people with depression, 48,207 six for medically unexplained symptoms, [208][209][210][211][212][213] three for asylum seekers [214][215][216] and four for BME communities. 29,217-219 Figure 5 shows the flow of studies through the review process.…”