Moving online: young people and parents’ experiences of adolescent eating disorder day programme treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Plain English summary This study examined the experiences of young people and their parents who attended an intensive day treatment programme for anorexia online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online questionnaires were completed by 14 patients aged 12–18 years and 19 of their parents. The questionnaires included a mixture of rating questions (for example: How would you rate your experience with online therapy from 1 to 10?) and free text responses. The authors explored the free text responses and identified three common themes. These were 1) New discoveries- for the parents and young people, online therapy was a new experience, 2) Lost in translation- working online meant some aspects of communication were lost, 3) The best of a bad situation- online therapy was better than no therapy at all. This study provides insight into the benefits and pitfalls of online therapy in a day programme setting. Specifically, this study suggests that the increased accessibility provided by online working, does not necessarily translate to increased connection. Given the importance of building a positive and trusting relationship between the young person, their family and their therapist, this will be an important consideration when thinking about future development of online treatment programmes.

Keywords

• Online therapy
• Anorexia nervosa
• Adolescents
• Day programme
• Partial hospitalisation program (PHP)
• Covid-19 pandemic