Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
12th International Congress of Behavioural Medicine, Budapest, Macaristan, 29 Ağustos - 01 Eylül 2012, cilt.19, ss.243-244
Eating disorders are often characterized by multiple illness episodes and chronic courses. Treatment response is limited and the drop-out rates are high for these disorders. Even after successful treatment, patients experience a high risk of relapse that is particularly pronounced in the first months following treatment termination. Maintenance of treatment gains and promotion of continued recovery is highly relevant to improve outcome and ultimately reduce the burden of illness. Interventions based on new technologies have the potential to extend the reach of treatment providers and to provide such maintenance support at reasonable cost and effort.
An Internet-based program, which provides an information and communication platform as well as professional online counselling, has been developed for this purpose. The program addresses patients with bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders not otherwise specified following treatment termination. The key modules of the program include 1) psychoeducation, 2) monitoring and supportive feedback, 3) forum and 4) chat. The modules provide support of varying intensity, which can be tailored according to the individual needs and preferences of the participants. The efficacy of the intervention is studied in an ongoing waiting list randomized controlled trial. N=84 participants have been included until January, 2012. To date, no data on the use of internet-based programs as a maintenance strategy in eating disorders have been published. The presentation will focus on participants' satisfaction with the online program and their adherence to the various components at the end of 4-month participation period. Furthermore, the potential of Internet-based interventions for healthcare delivery will be discussed. This research was funded by the European Commission in the Marie Curie Research Training Network INTACT (Individually Tailored Stepped Care for Women with Eating Disorders). Keywords: e-health, eating behaviors, internet