Premium
An eating disorder curriculum for primary care providers
Author(s) -
Gurney Valerie W.,
Halmi Katherine A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.1074
Subject(s) - primary care , curriculum , eating disorders , intervention (counseling) , psychology , psychiatry , medicine , clinical psychology , family medicine , pedagogy
Objective Primary care providers frequently lack adequate training in treating eating disorders. This study examined the effectiveness of an eating disorder curriculum designed to address the lack of knowledge among primary care providers. Method Medical social workers completed four intensive training sessions, each lasting 75 min. Participants completed questionnaires assessing eating disorder knowledge, perceived ability to treat eating disorders, and practice behaviors, before and after training as well as at 6‐month follow‐up. Results The eating disorder curriculum resulted in a significant increase in eating disorder knowledge and a moderate improvement in practice behaviors such as screening new patients for an eating disorder. Training did not significantly change providers' perceived ability to intervene. Discussion The results of this pilot study suggest that brief intensive training can increase providers' knowledge and change their routine clinical practices, resulting in increased rates of detection and intervention in the primary care setting. © 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 30: 209–212, 2001.