Abstract
Background | Eating disorders are receiving growing attention in today's society. Studies estimate anorexia and bulimia to be present in around 4.5% and 1.5%-5%, respectively, of the female population.
There is a strong correlation between the presence of any addictological disorder and eating disorders, with the lifelong prevalence of the comorbidity being almost 35%. Each of the conditions is usually treated separately, although integrated treatment seems to be the most efficient.
Referred to as a generic professional, an addictologist could serve as a kind of bridge between other professionals working in services for the treatment of eating disorders. Aim | The goal of the study was to test the possible employment of an addictologist in services for the treatment of eating disorders and outline the possible role of this profession in a therapeutic team.
Methods | Data was collected by using semi-structured interviews administered to the employees of three therapeutic clinics operating under the umbrella of an organisation offering services for people with eating disorders. All the interviews were recorded and analysed afterwards.
Open, axial, and selective coding were used as data analysis methods. Ethical principles were observed.
Findings | There are strong differences in the perception of the role of an addictologist. If an addictologist is to be viewed as a specialist in addictions to alcohol and drugs, then there is no shared opinion that such a professional is a necessary element of a therapeutic team.
On the other hand, therapeutic teams seem to favour the idea of integrating the profession of addictologist if he/she can be involved as a social worker in addition to playing role of a specialist in addiction. The comprehensive approach applied by addictologists contributes to the efficiency of the whole therapeutic team, improves the care provided to clients, and facilitates dealing with dual diagnoses in a single setting.
Conclusions | This study is one of the first studies to analyse the employment of addictologists in services for the treatment of eating disorders. While its findings about the role of addictologists in services of this type remain very inconclusive, more attention should be paid to the actual capability of these professionals to work as mediators between different professions involved in prevention and treatment.