Summary

Through the development and piloting of the 18-25 project Somerset and Wessex Eating Disorders Association (SWEDA) hoped to support young people with eating disorders who are in full time education or training.

The pilot project was initially restricted to the Southwest of England, although it was envisaged that once fully developed it could be used nationwide.

Comic Relief kindly funded the project as part of their “supporting young people” programme and the grant was awarded towards the salary costs of a Development Worker and ongoing project costs for a term of three years.

Aims

To enable and support young people aged 18-25 who were trying to manage an eating disorder whilst in education or training, thereby minimising the drop-out rate resulting from a crisis in their illness.

To combine supported self-help, therapy and socialising in order to both continue and succeed with their studies and also to explore life away from their eating disorder.

As with all SWEDA work, the project was user-led.

The Project

At the age of 18/19 when sufferers are living independently for the first time, they are faced with the serious long-term effects that the eating disorder is having on their life prospects.

Sufferers find that at this stage they are unable to cope and their eating disorder worsens. This leads to a crisis where tutors frequently suggest that their courses be halted until the student gets help. This can lead, for the first time, to the young person being motivated to address their eating disorder and seek help. However they are generally “not ill enough” to get help through statutory services, so cannot access the help and support needed to resume their studies.

Evidence shows that the sooner the eating disorder is tackled the faster it can be turned around. With the correct support there is no reason for a young person to miss out on the educational and training opportunities needed to enable them to fulfil their potential.

Once started on the project, it soon became apparent that the age range would need to be extended to cover both college students who were looking to go to university and also mature returning students.

Colleges and some sixth forms have had input from SWEDA in the form of training of professionals and the raising of awareness. We have been involved directly with students at their fresher’s fairs by giving out information and offering support.

We have also made good links with Student Welfare groups at all local colleges. These have been instrumental in continuing and updating information and, where appropriate, providing an ongoing SWEDA presence.

The project has worked with the following educational establishments:-

Universities
• Bath • Bournemouth • Bristol • Exeter • Swansea • Cardiff

Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth and Exeter have all received training for students and professionals. Each university has also had a support group running, facilitated by a SWEDA trained University volunteer. Each facilitator received ongoing support and supervision. At Swansea and Cardiff we were able to provide training and awareness raising and were also able to support some students.

Colleges
• Strode • Somerset College of Arts and Technology • Bridgwater • Yeovil • Norton Radstock

As well as training and awareness raising, we also provided some Art Therapy at SCAT and worked with A level students on an eating disorder module at Norton Radstock.

Support Offered

The support offered has changed and grown over the years. Online services have been developed to support a greater number of students. From June 2004 until June 2005 Suzanne Day joined the team on student placement. Not only did she run the support group at Bath University, Suzanne was also instrumental in the set up and ongoing support for MSN, email and text.

As well as the groups in each of the four local universities, students were also encouraged to take part in social and confidence building activities.

Sailing in Bristol with qualified instructors was popular and took place several times during the three years. Students were also able to work with children at Barton Camp on a week’s residential in 2004. Barton Camp is managed by Childrens Help Society and is a seven acre site where free or subsidised educational and respite breaks are provided for children from Bristol.

The students were able to offer support for the children’s welfare and activities under the supervision of the staff. This was therapeutic for the students not only by having responsibility but also involved the personal skills of living, cooking and eating together. SWEDA staff and volunteers then supported the students during this time.

Volunteers in each university were also able to offer one to one support to students where appropriate. This could involve being a 'study buddy', eating together or shopping.

Support and information was also available for friends and roommates. Leaflets and advice from sufferers for their peers on how best to help were produced. Self-help leaflets were also available for sufferers to use on their own or with support. These ranged from medical facts, finding a therapist, helping yourself, to how to cope with Christmas. Some twenty or more different leaflets were produced and used on a regular basis. It is also possible to download them from the website.

For each University, the project networked to find local Health Service Providers in the area. The STEPs Eating Disorder Unit for Bristol and Bath and Kimmeridge Court in Poole for Bournemouth, have certainly been supportive and taken an active approach in support, therapy and advice. Kimmeridge Court is now running clinics at Bournemouth University and has taken referrals for students to attend the unit who needed more immediate medical help.

The 18-25 Project Website

The 18-25 site has had thousands of visitors since its launch in February 2004. Every student is able to have free internet access at university.

As well as information, email and MSN support, the site offers some sixteen different message boards, both public and private, for sufferers and carers. These open boards include general chat, media research and eating disorder information. There are seven private ones for different geographical areas. Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth and Exeter, also Oxford, Somerset and Wales.

The boards are monitored daily and as yet no message has needed to be erased. With the power of peer support and under the caring eye of the webmaster any negative themes have been dealt with in a positive and supportive manner.

Sufferers of eating disorders find the anonymity of online services to be a very powerful support. The service has certainly grown over the three years. Online support needs to continue to expand now that the project has nationwide recognition.

The 18-25 site has now merged with SWEDA and can be found at: www.swedauk.org

The Conference

The conference was held on June 30th 2006 at The University of Bath.

Some twenty-six universities and sixth form colleges were represented from across England and Wales. Delegates included counsellors, students, NHS workers and carers. The Vice President of the National Union of Students responsible for student welfare was also present.

The findings of the Southwest Pilot were presented along with talks from Dr Alex Yellowlees, Medical Director at the Priory Hospital Glasgow and Dr Dominique Thompson, GP Principal for the Student Health Service at the University of Bristol. Alex is well known for his work on self-esteem. He travels around the world talking on this subject and also writes articles and books. He is a Patron of SWEDA. His talk centered on how self-esteem is formed, the effects of parenting and how our relationship with our body may lead to an eating disorder.

Dominique is a full time GP and has been involved with SWEDA since 2004. This very enlightening talk on her work at Bristol University revealed a significant increase in students presenting with eating disorders and how better support and a more consistent referral structure is needed in Universities.

Workshops were arranged for the afternoon on the themes of:

• The medical, psychological and emotional needs of students
• Looking at our own relationship with food
• Students in Mind. An on-line support group
• Wellness and lifestyle management

The feedback from the conference has been very positive. The overall objective of presenting the success of the pilot project and its use nationwide was certainly achieved.

Conclusion

The model of support used at Bath and Bournemouth Universities were so successful that they have both grown and continue to be used.

Suzanne’s enthusiasm and drive at Bath produced so much interest that the Student Welfare is continuing with the group under the facilitation of a SWEDA trained volunteer who worked with Suzanne over the last year.

Jess Griffiths in Bournemouth has worked not only within the University supporting students, but outside as well. Her networking with Kimmeridge Court has established their involvement at the University and has also led to quicker referrals to their unit for students who needed more immediate medical intervention. They have also been so impressed with Jess and her caring professionalism, that they have offered her part time work in conjunction with SWEDA under a joint working partnership.

This liaison with Somerset and Dorset is something that will greatly improve the care and support of students in the Southwest.

As a result of the conference, the Vice Principal of the National Union of Students invited SWEDA to facilitate a workshop at their welfare officer’s conference in Manchester. Some fifty people attended from Universities across England and Wales.

SWEDA have also been invited to present the findings of the project to universities in Scotland. A day of talks and workshops is planned for November at Dundee University.

Returning to the main aim of “enabling and supporting young people aged 18-25 who are trying to manage an eating disorder”, this has certainly been achieved across the Southwest. The pilot has shown that with the correct help young people can overcome their eating disorders. There is no reason for them to miss out on the educational and training opportunities that will enable them to fulfil their potential and live full, satisfying lives.

We also have a PDF version of the Final Report for people to download and print.