That’s what I’ll be asking the guy who’s in charge of rolling out FBT (Family Based Therapy) for adolescent eating disorder patients in Leeds when I meet with him on Wednesday. My home city of Leeds is claiming to be a ‘pioneer’ in the rolling out of FBT in England and so I can’t wait to hear what he has to say about plans for FBT being implemented in other parts of England. Already it’s being implemented in Scotland – and England was lagging behind. I’m not sure what the situation is in Wales or Northern Ireland.
According to studies and trials, FBT as an outpatient treatment model for adolescents with eating disorders such as anorexia has a higher and more sustained success rate than other treatment models for anorexia in teenagers and younger children. Of course it isn’t successful in every case; eating disorders are notoriously complex illnesses and very difficult to treat. Also, some individuals may not be suitable for FBT for whatever reason. So I will also be asking him what will happen in these cases.
I also want to know more about Leeds’ plans to move away from the multi-disciplinary CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) service when it comes to treating eating disorders and into a more specialised adolescent eating disorders service.
So watch this space… I only have one hour with him on Wednesday and he only works Wednesdays at the moment! So I really appreciate him sparing the time to talk with me.
(c) Eating disorders in boys: my teenage son’s recovery from anorexia. – Read entire story here.