Assessing the Feasibility of an Intervention for Youth and Parents Transitioning to Adult Eating Disorder Services

Teenagers with eating disorders often experience a disruption in care upon turning 18. At this age, they are no longer eligible to receive pediatric treatment but are also not yet set up with the appropriate adult services. There are currently no supports in place to help youth with eating disorders and their families during this transition from child to adult care. In this project, the investigators will be implementing an intervention designed to improve this transition experience; it will include peer support, parent education, a meeting with the child and adult care providers, contact with the family doctor, and a written guide about the transition. Among 10 adolescent-parent pairs leaving McMaster Children's Hospital to adult programs in Hamilton, Ontario, the investigators will assess how feasible the intervention is to implement, how feasible the chosen measures are, participants' experience of the intervention, how many adolescents actually transition to adult care, as well as a few adolescent and parent outcomes, such as how prepared the teen feels or what the parents' needs are.