The Eating Disorder Day Care Programme offers treatment and support towards recovery from an eating disorder for people experiencing an eating disorder and their carers.
This is a day programme here in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS), which provides care for people over the age of 18 who are experiencing:
The programme also offers treatment to people with eating disorder symptoms caused by other mental health difficulties.
What does the programme involve?
This programme is mainly focused on group work. Groups are facilitated by members of the eating disorders service team, which is made up of members of our nursing, psychology, social work, art therapy, dietetics, and occupational therapy departments.
Service users also attend individual appointments with a dietitian, advanced nurse practitioner and clinical nurse manager during the programme; how often these individual appointments depend on the service user’s needs.
The programme includes supports such as:
- Medical monitoring of physical health
- Meal support and nutritional rehabilitation
- Meal planning, including one-to-one sessions with a dietitian.
Groups which take place as part of the programme include:
- A Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP®) group to develop a personalised wellness and recovery monitoring system
- A self-esteem group which uses a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model to recognise, reflect and shift to a healthy self-esteem mindset
- An art therapy group which uses art as a way of expressing and processing emotions and experiences
- A body image group which explores the factors contributing towards body image experiences and helps to build a positive body image
- A self and relationships group which explores how eating disorders impact a person interpersonally (or socially) and provides skills in managing relationships
- A goals group which focuses on setting a food, self-care and social goal each week
- A decider skills group which uses a CBT and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) model to help recognise and examine own thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
- A compassionate mind group which involves reflecting on fears, blocks, and resistances to recovery.
A life skills and community outing group also sees visits arranged to cafés, restaurants, museums, art galleries, picnic spots and more, with the aims of:
- Exploring and overcoming anxieties, negative thought processes and other difficulties relating to food through engagement in the community
- Increasing confidence around managing food through sensory and/or social experiences
- Developing social skills
- Building skills and confidence in navigating the community environment.
How is the programme structured?
The Eating Disorder Programme is available for up to five days a week, with two days a week (Mondays and Tuesdays) held online through Microsoft Teams and three days a week (Wednesday to Friday) held onsite in St Patrick’s University Hospital (SPUH).
It is a rolling programme, which means that there is no defined start or end date: service users can join at any time.
Service users usually attend the programme for eight weeks. However, how long and how often the service user attends the programme depends on their individual needs and progress. Each service user’s attendance is discussed and agreed before starting the programme, and adjustments to days of attendance can be discussed with a member of the team during individual appointments.
Aftercare is available to service users who complete the programme for up to a year. This aims to offer ongoing connection and support to service users and to help in preventing relapse in their long-term recovery. Aftercare sessions take place twice a month in the evening. They are delivered online, with an in-person session each quarter.
How are referrals made?
The Eating Disorder Programme is open to current service users in SPMHS, as well as people who are not currently under the care of SPMHS. Referrals can be made by GPs, external consultant psychiatrists, and internal inpatient and outpatient teams within SPMHS.
For queries on this programme, please contact admissions@stpatricks.ie.
