Adapting multi-family therapy to families who care for a loved one with an eating disorder in the Czech Republic combined with a follow-up pilot study of efficacy
Abstract
This research article provides an insight into the Multifamily Therapy (MFT) for families caring for a patient with an eating disorder at the Centre for Eating Disorders at the First Psychiatric Clinic in Prague. We describe the sometimes rocky path of MFT in Czech healthcare and the challenges we encountered in working with this approach in the Czech Republic.
Additionally, we discuss the preliminary results of our follow-up-pilot study in which we tested the efficacy of our MFT programme on patients' quality of life and self-esteem. Fifteen patients completed the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES) and the brief Schwartz outcome scale (SOS-10) at pre-treatment and post-treatment.
Our results show a significant improvement of quality of life (F (1, 14) = 13.03, P = 0.003) and a significant reduction of self-esteem (Z = 2.721 P = 0.07). This pilot study shows divergent results concerning the efficacy of MFT on patients' quality of life and their self-esteem.