Social action in an eating disorder day hospital

Adolescence is a stage of many changes. It is a time for reflecting on the past and preparing for certain vital issues such as personal identity, a sense of belonging to a peer group, the development of one's own values, the onset of sexuality, and the experimentation of new roles, among others. In Western culture, adolescents are considered mature and are therefore expected to eventually assume certain obligations and responsibilities. However, in some respects, they are still considered immature. When a mental health problem also arises, adolescence can be especially complex due to the impact that mental health disorders have on all areas of life, including social, familial, and educational relationships.

It is often at this time that these adolescents and their families begin to encounter social work and social education teams . These teams work with a broad and integrative approach, taking into account pre-treatment stages as well as the recovery process. In each of these situations, they will address the different needs and demands, requiring coordinated work to manage and minimize the repercussions that the distress may have on the adolescent and their environment.

Direct social action to promote better social relations

In the setting of an eating disorder day hospital , the social work and social education teams provide direct and indirect support to their natural environment.

In our direct work with the people we serve, we develop a plan tailored to their future. This plan is based on their preferences, aptitudes, and personal skills, promoting and encouraging their participation in activities appropriate and specific to their age and interests.

Encouraging participation can generate motivation and, at the same time, help reduce the impact of long-term treatments. It's important to remember that seeking motivation will lead to improved self-esteem and self-concept, strengthening social relationships within their environment.

As an example, in the Eating Disorders Day Unit at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona, we conduct a weekly workshop called Life Plan Management . This workshop takes a pedagogical approach and understands the process of learning about the psychosocial world as a stage of personal development, placing great importance on the social context and the environment in which it unfolds. For the workshop to be successful and for participants to be actively engaged throughout the process, it is important to emphasize the idea of shared responsibility between the individuals receiving care and the professional teams. It is a semi-structured group, where the adolescents receiving care take center stage in developing the topics of the weekly sessions. Through their own experiences and practical scenarios, they are encouraged to reflect, share, and work on different aspects of daily life.

The objectives of this workshop are:

• Addressing aspects of the adolescent's daily life: friendships, family, leisure, etc., from a perspective that tries not to focus attention on the disorder itself, in order to rescue the "healthy" part of the adolescent.
• Improving adolescents' relationships with their family environment: academic, family, relational...
• Facilitate communication and expression of their private lives.
• Identify the difficulties the person being cared for has when relating to the environment, accompanying them to reflect and look for alternatives.
• To facilitate and generate personal tools and resources to address the problems or difficulties raised during the sessions.
• Promote weekend activities in your natural environment, avoiding social isolation.
• Strengthen the bond that is developed throughout the process with the adolescent.

By sharing different interactions and reactions, the adolescent provides us, the professional teams, with a more global and closer vision that will allow us to understand and attend to cases at a more individualized level.

On the other hand, when we talk about indirect action, we are referring to the search for online resources and services, which play a fundamental role since they are integrated into the person's immediate environment. These provide valuable information for our work, and simultaneously, we collaborate to establish plans, taking into account individual needs, to foster a suitable and stable environment, always conducive to the development of young people. Furthermore, this allows us to guarantee continuity of care once they have been discharged from our hospital.