Healthcare Professionals
To assist healthcare professionals, many of whom have little training in eating disorders, EDSNA has compiled peer-reviewed research articles, assessment tools, treatment guidelines, videos and more. If you know of other resources that should be included on this page, please feel free to contact “info@EDSNA.ca”. As well, please check our calendar for upcoming training opportunities.
AHS Poster: Physician’s Guide to Eating Disorders
Professionals within Alberta who wish to consult on eating disorder topics, available services, how to make a referral to the program, and general treatment recommendations may contact the Program Consultant at the Calgary Eating Disorder Program, Meisha Kolbuc: 403-955-8715 Email: meisha.kolbuc@albertahealthservices.ca.
Multi Resource List for Eating Disorder Supports, Services, Sites and Research compiled by AHS librarian at Red Deer Regional Hospital (NOTE: Treatment options are southern Alberta-specific)
Doctors may wish to read this excellent article by Dr. Angela Guarda, Director, Eating Disorders Program at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, entitled, “What All Medical Professionals Should Know about Eating Disorders.“
Series of podcasts on Eating Disorders, ED Matters: The Gurze/Salucore podcast airing once a week where we interview the top experts in the field of eating disorders, sharing information for individuals recovering from eating disorders, their loved ones, clinicians in the field, and other individuals, professional or otherwise seeking to learn about eating disorders. Healthy conversations about eating disorders.
A great overview provided by Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute , one-hour tutorial webinar that covers many aspects of eating disorders.
Peer Reviewed Research Studies on Eating Disorders, taken from International Eating Disorder Action Website. We have provided brief summaries of each research study. Link
Neurocognitive features of eating disorders presented by Dr. Kara Fitzpatrick. A three-part video series: part 1 | part 2 | part 3
Dear Doctor, Your Patient has an Eating Disorder. Clinical, research-based & detailed article on signs that may show up in your office & how to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.
Here is an Article on ARFID urging pediatricians to be on the lookout for this eating disorder among children. As well, EDSNA has compiled a number of other articles on this in the Facts section.
The Role of the Pediatrician in Family-Based Treatment for Adolescent Eating Disorders: Opportunities and Challenges: peer-reviewed article from the Journal of Adolescent Health.
EDSNA’s Guide to enable better conversations between parents and family doctors. Although it is written from a parent’s perspective, it may provide useful information to develop a checklist for doctors.
Comprehensive list of resources for clinicians, assembled by CEED- Centre for Excellence in Eating Disorders (UK). Includes: Best Practice Guidelines, Medical Risk Management, Screening Tools, Assessment, Adolescent/Youth, Treatment, Recovery Planning, Physical Activity, and more.
SCOFF Questionnaire. A simple 5-question test used to screening for Anorexia and Bulimia, developed by UK doctors.
The Academy of Eating Disorders has developed a guide to early recognition and medical risk management in the care of individuals with eating disorders. It can be found (in several different languages) HERE.
Quality of Life Questionnaire, from Eating Disorders Nova Scotia. This survey can help determine the degree to which an ED is impacting quality of life.
Ready for Change Measurement, from Eating Disorders Nova Scotia. This survey is a non-judgmental way to assess if the person is Pre-contemplative, Contemplative, Prepared, Taking Action, Maintaining or Recovered.
This Self-Help Guide, developed in the UK, also helps patients walk through the steps to consider change.
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) has developed a handout for dental hygienists and dentists. It outlines the dental complications of eating disorders, effects on teeth and gums and gives a step by step guide to start the conversation with a patient.
Research study is now recruiting service providers working with children and adolescents with eating disorders to participate in a study to identify what treatment models are being used in tertiary care settings, community based organizations and in private practice. The hope is that we will be able to identify potential knowledge gaps and training needs of service providers who work with young people with eating disorders and their families in Alberta.
For more info, contact Gina Dimitropoulos at the University of Calgary.
The Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Eating Disorders is generally regarded as the gold standard for the medical treatment of eating disorders. It is made available through the American Psychiatric Association website.
Exercise in Eating Disorders Treatment: Systematic Review and Proposal of Guidelines
Effective Medical Treatment to help cessation of purging behaviours
This article in Canadian Nurse (March 2015) relates the experience of Canada’s only two certified eating disorder registered nurses. (Article can be found on pg. 14 of PDF, pg 12 of the article) We have reprinted the useful handout these nurses created on language that helps and hinders recovery from an eating disorder.
Educators
Teachers may be the first to notice the signs of disordered eating, poor body image, perfectionism, self-harm, or compulsive exercising in their students. They may wonder what to do, where to turn, what to say, when to say it and who to consult. With this in mind, EDSNA frequently receives requests to present to student populations, or other individuals under the age of 18.
Recent relevant research has indicated that providing presentations to students, or other individuals under the age of 18, lacks preventative power- little to nothing is gained by offering information in these formats to this audience. If anything, addressing youth and adolescent cohorts directly may increase the likelihood of experimentation with maladaptive behaviours, and may inadvertently improve the sophistication of hiding techniques.
In keeping with these findings, EDSNA seeks to support teachers, administrative staff etc by supporting them directly, in the hopes that they may be better able to notice and report disordered eating behaviour in the youth and adolescents that they work with.
- They are a serious illness. Eating Disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
- It isn’t your job to fix it or assume control of their food intake. That is the job of professionals who specialize in the treatment of eating disorders.
- Eating Disorders aren’t a phase, they don’t go away if you ignore them.
- Early intervention leads to better outcomes, so it’s important to respond sooner rather than later.
- Even after treatment, the process isn’t done. Recovery takes, on average 7 years, so those affected will need support, encouragement, accommodations and compassion when they return to school.
- School culture can influence the recovery process. It’s important to be aware of the messages being sent and try to see things through the eyes of someone with this illness. Eating in a crowded cafeteria may be impossible. Diet challenges or activities around food may be triggering. Posters that only support the thin ideal don’t emphasize health at any size and body acceptance.
- Recovery is possible and young people who have early, appropriate treatment have the best recovery rates.
Request an eating disorder presentation (for adults only) from EDSNA by filling out the form on this page.
This is an excellent, free toolkit for educators, developed by the National Eating Disorder Association the USA.
Free Body Image Curriculum, developed by the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) of Canada. This has 20 lessons and is set out for grades 4-8 and is absolutely FREE. They are currently updating it to include more about social media.
Informative webinar about using effective validation techniques in the classroom to quickly de-escalate high emotion. Very practical advice to help teachers with students with dysregulated anxiety, anger, or overwhelming sadness: http://www.mentalhealthfoundations.ca/efss
Request an online presentation for adults or youth via NEDIC. Youth presentation focused on body image, self-esteem and media literacy. Adult presentation focuses on recognizing the signs of eating disorders and prevention. http://nedic.ca/get-involved/request-presentation?platform=hootsuite
Families facing eating disorders need support. Encourage parents, partners and loved ones to reach out to EDSNA and learn more about our support groups, which are available in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and online.