The latest Bulletin published by the National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) makes reference to a review in 2013 that 97% of general health clinicians interviewed had little or no training in the field of eating disorders. The NEDC Bulleting goes on to raise the alarm that “clinicians who practice beyond their level of competence (in eating disorders) may actually do so at the clients physical, mental and emotional detriment”.
The newsletter also refers to and agrees with research that the most effective treatment for an eating disorder is that by a multi-disciplinary specialist team. The Bulletin makes note of the disputes and difficulties that can arise from different training and treatment philosophies when a client seeks treatment from clinicians not working together in a clinical team.
With years of experience working in the field of eating disorders, the team at Myrtle Oak Clinic agrees with the NEDC’s comments in its latest Bulletin. Myrtle Oak Clinic offers multi-disciplinary, evidence based treatment. All of our clinicians have undertaken specialist training in eating disorders and update this training by seeking and attending professional development and training whenever it is available. We provide inter-disciplinary training so that our treatment models are streamlined between our various disciplines and meet as a team regularly to ensure our treatment approach is consistent and effective for our clients.
The recent paper by Spotts-DeLazzer and Dr Muhlheim regarding competence in the treatment of eating disorders concluded that specialist knowledge is required in the following areas.
- Assessment and Diagnosis
- Medical Factors
- Nutrition and Malnutrition
- Treatment Strategies
- Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Levels of Care
The team at Myrtle Oak Clinic have well-established experience, knowledge, protocols and resources in the above five areas and deliver evidence based treatment in order to offer our clients the best treatment outcomes.
Myrtle Oak Clinic encourages the NEDC to continue advocating for increased and cohesive training in order to streamline research, knowledge and treatment options.
Ref: http://www.nedc.com.au/e-bulletin-number-forty-three#article-one
