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 identified 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 beneficial 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 beneficial and where that help would have been usefully situated. The main findings 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.