Get help by DVD

I haven't participated in this research (although I believe Marcella has?) but I'm interested to hear what parents think about this:

DVD training package for carers

Are books and other media a supplement to professional aid, or could they stand alone?

Comments

  1. The book (which has been released as Skills Based Learning for Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder http://www.eatingdisordersarena.com/books/Skills-based-Learning-for-Caring-for-a-Loved-One-with-an-Eating-Disorder-isbn9780415431583
    ) and the course are being recommended by professionals who are seeing individual adults and have been sought out by parents (like me!) whose loved ones aren't at present having specialist treatment. The course is good, and I would recommend it, but it is difficult to do it on one's own and might lend itself more to a parents' group or to a couple equally committed to working through such a course. When I took part in the trial the administration was just a little chaotic, and if I've skewed the results by filling in the same feedback forms twice and missing out others I can only apologise but I did find it quite hard on occasion to keep in contact with the team. I missed out on the individual support because of this. The problems I encountered may have been a one off, but if not I do think this is a slight drawback about the research.
    If anyone else has participated I'd welcome feedback on how they got on.

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  2. Thanks to Marcella for highlighting this study, we registered as overseas participants.
    There were no extra sessions or workshops to explain how the programme worked, just the manual and 5 DVD's.
    When we undertook the study our d was recovered, eating well, weight restored. So why did we do it? Interest primarily, although our d still retained some behaviors which were ED related. Our d is now 19, a young adult and with this there comes personal responsibility. To change behaviors there needs to be a level of acceptance on her behalf.
    The programme relied on questionnaires to be returned from both carer and participant. These were duplicate in nature and sent out at the beginning of the programme and on completion to gauge reactions and responses to ED situations as well as levels of confidence in dealing with the ED. I guess our response would have been slightly different had we just started with this approach.
    One of the key questions I remember was something along the lines of...."do you think the skills gained by using this programme will be beneficial in dealing with ED at a later stage/relapse". I'd have to say yes, but for us it has been a smörgåsbord of techniques, research and communication with other like minded parents that have helped us understand/deal with this illness.
    The nature of the programme allows participants to return to the manual or DVD to have a refresh. It aims to teach basic counseling skills, listening, reflecting, empathy and reframing with the use of metaphors such as Kangaroos, Rhinoceros, Jellyfish and Dolphins to highlight personal reactions to ED behaviors. The goal was to be "calm dolphins" which gently nudged the person on the road of recovery.

    I think it is a valuable resource for anyone to have.

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