An investigation of the impact of a workshop teaching advanced skills for working with eating disorders
Eating disorders are a serious mental health issue which affect children and youth disproportionately. Those affected by eating disorders often fail to present for treatment and when they do they may be misdiagnosed and/or ineffectively treated. Some of the factors contributing to ineffective servic...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Memorial University of Newfoundland
2018
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| Online Access: | https://research.library.mun.ca/13195/ https://research.library.mun.ca/13195/1/thesis.pdf |
| Summary: | Eating disorders are a serious mental health issue which affect children and youth disproportionately. Those affected by eating disorders often fail to present for treatment and when they do they may be misdiagnosed and/or ineffectively treated. Some of the factors contributing to ineffective service provision are inadequate knowledge, confidence, and skills related to eating disorder assessment and treatment among health care professionals. Continuing education is an important way to improve health professionals’ capacity for managing eating disorders. This study used the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Umble et al.’s (2000) behaviour change model to guide the evaluation of a two-day advanced workshop designed to teach Emotion-Focused Therapy and Family-Based Therapy skills to health professionals across the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The intervention was evaluated with a pre/post/12-month follow-up design to examine the impact of the workshop on attendees’ knowledge (self-rated and tested), confidence, attitudes, motivation to change, and behaviour related to treatment of eating disorders. Results indicated that participants (N = 78) had significantly increased confidence and self-rated and tested knowledge from pre- to post-workshop, and these improvements were maintained at follow-up. Motivation to change behaviour (to use workshop skills and practice more interprofessionally) and attitudes towards interprofessional collaboration did not significantly change. Participants reported significantly increased use of techniques taught in the workshop at follow-up compared to pre-workshop. In summary, this workshop was effective at changing knowledge, confidence, and behaviour, but did not change collaborative attitudes or motivation to change behaviour. Strengths of this research include the mixed methods of investigation used, and the high pre- and post-workshop participation rate. Limitations include its quasi-experimental design, and participant drop-out at follow-up. Future research could examine ... |
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