Eating disorders : the need for a residential centre in Malta and the role of the social worker within it

Abstract

Eating disorders are life threatening and emotionally crippling and are distressing both for the client with the disorder and for family and friends who are many times helpless witnesses to the client's disease. A lack of internal self worth and the pressure to be thin take over the person with the eating disorder so much so that this leads to an extreme emaciation, physical debilitation and ultimately death (Rumney, 1983). However eating disorders can be cured, and it was my intention in this research to investigate whether a residential centre can contribute to the cure of such disorders. I investigated whether there is the need of having a residential centre for people with eating disorders in Malta and what would be the role of the social worker within it. I did this by conducting in-depth interviews with sufferers and survivors of people with eating disorders and also by conducting interviews with professionals who work in this field. The results show that both people with eating disorders and the professionals strongly feel the need of having a residential centre which specializes in eating disorders. Participants expressed their opinions that they would expect to find a multidisciplinary team within the residential centre who can offer them specialized help for their disorder and that they could live in a supportive and rehabilitative environment which would be of benefit to them during the journey of their recovery. At present people with eating disorders are being treated in the Mixed Admissions Ward at Mount Carmel Psychiatric Hospital. Participants in my research confessed that this ward caters for a mixture of acute mental illnesses and is in no way fit for this treatment. Moreover, they also stated that there should be more services and awareness about the subject of eating disorders in Malta. Results also showed that the social worker plays a crucial role in the recovery of clients with eating disorders. When implementing social work values such as empowerment, acceptance, providing a warm and caring presence and adopting a non judgemental attitude and the ability to use skills and being able to adopt different roles such as mediator and teacher, the social worker would be providing a sustaining presence in the life of the person with eating disorders. Consequently this sustaining presence will work together with the client and other professionals and help the client to embark on a journey not only to recovery but also a journey of self discovery (Villapiano & Goodman, 2001).