Project CORE: Disseminating Eating Disorders Treatment

The complete project will incorporate three phases. Phase I is designed to gather information from existing licensed health professionals in the community who serve Medicaid populations on their knowledge needs and priorities related to screening and intervening with patients with eating disorders. Phase I will comprise eating disorder psycho-education, implementation of workshops, and supervision among primary care professionals and mental health workers. Responses will inform the content of in-services and program development (e.g., monthly consultation services, ongoing multi-family support groups) provided in Phase II. During Phase II, families containing a child with a restrictive-type eating disorder will be recruited to receive treatment from the clinicians assessed and trained during Phase I. Families will be assigned to receive either Family Based Treatment (FBT) or Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E) to treat their adolescent's eating disorder. Treatment will occur over 10-16 weeks, depending on the family's needs and availability. Families will be assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 1-year follow-up. Phase III will consist of follow-up with the families and clinicians, and further development of training/education approaches for the Rhode Island healthcare workforce.