Premium
Perspectives on eating disorders and service provision: A qualitative study of healthcare professionals
Author(s) -
Reid Marie,
Williams Sarah,
Burr Jennifer
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
european eating disorders review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.511
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1099-0968
pISSN - 1072-4133
DOI - 10.1002/erv.976
Subject(s) - eating disorders , qualitative research , health professionals , psychological intervention , context (archaeology) , nursing , diversity (politics) , health care , bulimia nervosa , resource (disambiguation) , psychology , service (business) , medicine , disordered eating , psychiatry , sociology , business , paleontology , social science , computer network , marketing , anthropology , computer science , economics , biology , economic growth
The study examined healthcare professionals' perspectives of eating disorder patients and services. Qualitative semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 18 healthcare professionals resulting in two themes. First, the practical difficulties of meeting the complex service needs of people with eating disorders were illustrated. Second, staff recognised patient diversity and the consequent need for individualised interventions. Services are frustrated in meeting patient needs due to complex resource limitations, which do not amount only to lack of funding. Rather than eating disordered patients being viewed as ‘difficult’, as reported in previous qualitative research, they are only difficult in a context of limited resources. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.