An Intervention to Increase Self-care Behavior among Parents of Children with Eating Disorders

1. An Intervention to Increase Self-care Behavior among Parents of Children with Eating Disorders Sheetal J. Patel,1 Autumn Shafer,2 Cynthia M. Bulik,3 Nancy Zucker,4 Jane D. Brown3 1University of Texas-Arlington, 2Texas Tech University, 3University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 4Duke University PURPOSE • To develop and implement a communication campaign targeted towards parents of children with eating disorders • Goals: • 1) Encourage parents to engage in self-care and help-seeking behaviors • 2) Increase parents' use of coping strategies • 3) Help parents to understand that to help their child effectively, they must also attend to their own emotional needs and seek support • 4) Ultimately to reduce stress related to caring for their child and improve their ability to be a supportive parent in recovery RESEARCH • Methods • Message development: 3 focus groups with parents; 19 interviews with clinicians in eating disorders; and online message experiment with 118 parents • Campaign evaluation: Survey with 30 clinicians in the UNC and Duke eating disorder programs; and interviews with 10 parents; pre/post campaign survey with 62 parents • Findings • Barriers to self-care: Parents identified a need for permission from clinicians/ other parents, while clinicians focused on parents lack of time to engage in self-care • Motivating benefits of self-care: Parents and clinicians agreed it was important to show a connection between self-care and their child’s health outcomes • Effective message appeals should: Focus on benefits of self-care rather than negative outcomes of not doing self-care; validate parents’ feelings; tie self-care to child’s recovery; and include section on how to access to more information and resources • Campaign evaluation research: In data analysis stage COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN MATERIALS • Campaign materials included the following: • Comprehensive website with resources and self-care information: www.CaringIsCaring.org • Posters with gain-frame messages that highlighted benefits of self-care • Brochure with self-care information and resources • Pens/ notepads for parents • Direct mail to parents with postcard, brochure, mini-poster and magnet • Self-care reminders via text messaging • Treatment team kits for healthcare providers, including office calendar, ID button that said “Ask Me About Self-Care” and tips for talking with parents about self-care • Waiting room banners UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication Contact: Sheetal Patel, sheetalp@uta.edu, (817)272-7036, University of Texas-Arlington, Dept. of Communication, Arlington TX, 76019-0107