Caring for someone with an eating disorder

Now is your chance to share what your perspective as the family has been with a young researcher in Australia.

Caring for someone with an eating disorder: Different perspectives

My name is Kerri Coomber and I am completing a PhD in Psychology looking at the experience of caring for someone recovering from an eating disorder. While we now know a lot about what this is like, we don’t know whether the person in recovery and the carer see the experience of recovery and caregiving similarly or whether their experience is different. I’d like to invite you to share your perspective.

Both carer and the person with an eating disorder would each complete a short questionnaire. You won’t see each other’s responses and what you say will have any identifying information kept separate. I will give each of you a code number so I can match up your questionnaires.

The carer questionnaire ask you about how the eating disorder affects you, as a carer, how you deal with everyday problems related to the eating disorder, and how your general health has been lately. This questionnaire will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete.

The questionnaire that the person with an eating disorder will complete will ask you about your eating disorder, where you feel you are on the road to recovery, and how you think the eating disorder affects your carer. This questionnaire will take you about 20 to 30 minutes to complete.

If you have an eating disorder, or you are a carer of someone with an eating disorder and you would like to take part please email me at kcoomber@deakin.edu.au, or phone me on (03) 5227 8436. Can you please let me know your address so I can send you the questionnaires, the age of the person who has an eating disorder, and whether the person with an eating disorder has bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa. The last two pieces of information are needed to make sure I send you the appropriate version of the questionnaires.