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Guided Self Help for Eating Disorders Implementation Study
Sponsor: McMaster University
Summary
Eating disorders are amongst the most understudied illnesses affecting young women in Canada. Further, mortality rates are amongst the highest of all psychiatric illnesses. Despite their high prevalence and mortality rates, research into adolescent eating disorders is underfunded in Canada. In addition to the problem of research underfunding, healthcare system underfunding exists - creating long waiting lists and fragmented care for children and youth with eating disorders. More efficient treatments are urgently needed to reduce wait times and provide expedited care to adolescents on eating disorder waitlists. The current study aims to assess whether implementing a virtual parent-lead therapy, Guided Self Help Family-Based Therapy (GSH FBT) might alleviate wait times for eating disorder services and also reduce eating disorder symptomatology in young people with anorexia nervosa. This study also aims to determine the experiences of both families and medical teams of GSH FBT implementation as an intervention.
Official title: National Implementation of Highly Efficient Evidence-Informed Treatment for Youth with Eating Disorders
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
12 Years - 100 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
90
Start Date
2025-04-01
Completion Date
2027-07-30
Last Updated
2025-02-28
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Guided Self Help Family Based Therapy (GSH FBT)
Each family will participate in ten virtual sessions of GSH FBT with a trained GSH practitioner local to their provincial study site. Parents will meet their coach for a 60-minute onboarding session where the parents/caregivers are familiarized with the video platform used in treatment. Then, the treatment consists of ten virtual 20-minute sessions over 6 months. In GSH FBT, the parents weigh the adolescent patient prior to the session, on the same day as the session, and report the weight to the coach. Throughout treatment, parents have access to an online platform with a series of videos that outline the core components of FBT: the urgency to act, parental empowerment, medical complications, strategies to use during and after mealtime, and how to externalize the illness. In line with GSH approaches, coach-therapists direct parents to watch or review videos and text content rather than directly affecting behavioral change.
Locations (1)
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada