Background. The continuation of eating disorders from adolescence into adulthood often requires youth to undergo a healthcare transition from pediatric to adult eating disorder services. This transition is difficult, uncoordinated, and puts affected adolescents at an increased risk of relapse. Although transition barriers and recommendations have been identified, no known interventions exist to support youth and families transitioning to adult eating disorder services.
Methods. Over a three-month period, ten 17-year-old adolescents and their parents (n=9) completed up to five intervention components designed to prepare them for the transition out of pediatric eating disorder treatment in Hamilton, Ontario. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to assess intervention feasibility, the nature of transition, and other outcomes, with equal emphasis on the quantitative data, where measures were collected using a single arm pre-post design, and qualitative data, which comprised of written reflection entries and interview data, was informed by Qualitative Description, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Results. Quantitative data pertaining to chosen feasibility indicators showed that adolescents and parents completed an average of 73% and 78% of expected components respectively, all within the three-month intervention period. Findings generated from the qualitative data indicated that participants found the intervention helpful, convenient, and easy to navigate. Of the seven adolescents interviewed, most were planning to transition to their family doctor, a private therapist, or both, while awaiting entry to specialized adult mental health care.
Conclusions. This intervention is acceptable, feasible, and highlights likely care pathways among transition-age youth with eating disorders. These findings support the continuation of this research using more rigorous study designs to examine the effectiveness of this intervention in larger and more diverse samples. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Most programs that specialize in treating children with eating disorders discharge patients when they turn 18. This sudden change often leaves youth without a solid plan to continue this care as an adult. Currently, no known interventions exist to help with this problem. In our study, ten adolescents and their parents completed five activities designed to improve their transition into adult mental health care. Interviews, reflections, and questionnaires were used to explore multiple outcomes, such as how many or the duration to complete these activities and where they plan to go for adult mental health treatment. Adolescents and parents completed most of the supports, described them as easy and helpful, and set up a plan for their future care. The activities in this study have the potential to improve this difficult transition for youth and families affected by eating disorders and should be further studied.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/27843 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Nicula, Maria |
| Contributors | Couturier, Jennifer, Health Research Methodology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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