Well-Being Workshops in Eating Disorder Wards and Their Perceived Benefits to Patients and the Multi-Disciplinary Team: A Pilot Study.

A more holistic definition of patients' recovery from eating disorders (EDs) highlights that well-being interventions linked to self-compassion are under-researched and under-utilised. Staff burnout is also common in ED units (EDUs), linked to difficult relationships with patients and poor self-care, and is not well addressed. Therefore we piloted a series of joint well-being workshops to target these issues. Joint workshops were offered to patients (n = 55) and the multi-disciplinary team MDT (n = 34) in adult ED wards over two years. Experiences were evaluated quantitively and qualitatively. Mood post-workshops increased significantly for both groups (patients: p < 0.001, r = 0.49; MDT: z = 3.043, p = 0.002, r = 0.41), with the feeling that they deserved to take time for self-care (patients: z = 2.419, p = 0.016, r = 0.31); MDT: z = 2.814, p = 0.005, r = 0.38). Workshops were found to be enjoyable and highly relevant to well-being, but less useful by patients. Thematic analysis identified six themes: Enjoyment, recovery and well-being, relationships, content, structure and future ideas. Both groups experienced improved mood and increased enjoyment and awareness of well-being. Patient isolation was addressed, and the staff experienced stress reduction and increased productivity. Both groups experienced improved relationships.

Self-Esteem Group: Useful Intervention for Inpatients with Anorexia Nervosa?

Low self-esteem is a common feature in Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and has been hypothesised to act as a predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factor. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)-based self-esteem group in a naturalistic setting of patients with AN in an inpatient treatment programme. Included in this study were 119 female patients diagnosed with AN, with all participants completing self-report questionnaires before and after the intervention. The group consisted of five to six weekly sessions. The self-esteem group led to a statistically significant improvement in self-esteem, which could not be explained by an increase in BMI alone, suggesting that the group is facilitating positive changes within an AN group. The group also had a small effect on improving patients self-perceived ability to change. These findings suggest that the brief self-esteem group has some benefits in improving patients' self-esteem/self-efficacy and should be replicated in the future with a control condition to confirm findings.