Issue 79: New support, new opportunities
About this resource
Credential PD packages new professionals
Editor’s note
To support NEDC’s role in building the system of care, we have reorganised our website to better reflect who we are, what we do, and how we can help health practitioners and other professionals, families, supports and people with lived experience of eating disorders.
You may notice that some pages have been moved. We have updated and expanded our pages on Medicare Items and Eating Disorder Treatment and Management Plans, Treatment Options and more. We have also introduced new pages, including a guide to Eating Disorder Training within Australia, Peer Support Work and Support Groups and Eating Disorder Organisations. You can also find our model of the Stepped System of Care for eating disorders, with examples of care and treatment services that people experiencing an eating disorder may require across the course of illness and recovery. Find out how you can access this information more easily here.
Navigating your way around Australia’s eating disorders sector can be difficult but at NEDC we are dedicated to improving this experience for all Australians. We have updated and re-designed our service locator, enabling people searching for an eating disorder-specific clinical service to easily search by state, provider type, age group, and service type. Read about it here and try it out here.
We have also separated our Resource and Research sections for clarity and introduced a new Research Highlights section, where each week we will feature valuable new research in the eating disorders sector. Read about it here.
To support new or early career mental health professionals and dietitians in meeting the required training and supervision criteria for the ANZAED Eating Disorder Credential, NEDC are offering Professional Development Packages of free training and supervision. Find out how to access these packages here.
From July, clinicians applying for the Credential will need to have completed approved training. To help clinicians qualify and build the workforce required, NEDC has put in place a Training Approvals process for trainings relevant to the ANZAED Eating Disorder Credential. Read about trainings here.
Finally, we have collated Upcoming Training and Events for March and April, including including training in CBT-E, FBT, SSCM, ARFID and Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and ANZAED’s hybrid Autumn Workshop Series here. Find out how to register for these events here and to submit your own event here.
Remember – the NEDC is all about collaboration and connection. Please share this eBulletin with colleagues and friends. Your input and your voice matter to us. Contact us at info@nedc.com.au
You can also participate through membership to the NEDC – join us here.
Site update
See our section-by-section guide to NEDC’s restructured website www.nedc.com.au here:
Eating Disorders: This section provides general information, including descriptions and statistics on eating disorders. It describes each eating disorder, other presentations, risk and protective factors, prevalence, comorbidity, and detailed information on Prevention, Early Intervention, Treatment, and Recovery. Resources related to these topics (e.g., NEDC booklets, fact sheets) are linked here.
Professional Development: This section provides information on live, virtual, and self-paced learning activities. Professional Development can be defined by an active learning process, and includes upcoming live training opportunities, eLearning, podcasts, videos and webinars. This section also provides information on the training sector in Australia and provides links to training providers. There is also a link for organisations to share their events.
Resources: This section focuses on learning and information materials and reading and interactive resources to support health professionals, education professionals, and sports and fitness professionals to fulfil their functional role in the stepped system of care, as well as families, supports and people with lived experience. This includes fact sheets, NEDC-developed publications, infographics, booklets, e-Bulletins, and NEDC's Peer Work Guide. You will also find resources from other state- and national eating disorder organisations, peak bodies, and key journal articles and guidelines. There is also a guide to Medicare items for eating disorders and Eating Disorder Treatment Plans.
Research: This new section has been created to provide links to existing free research databases and journals that have a focus, or partial focus, on eating disorders, disordered eating, and/or body image, and also pages to promote Australia research studies for both researchers and participants. There is also a new page highlighting specific articles of interest relevant to the system of care in Australia.
Credentialing: This section will continue to provide information about the ANZAED Eating Disorder Credential. Here you can find the ANZAED Practice and Training Standards, Credentialing FAQs, information about Credential Professional Development packages and NEDC approved trainings and training opportunities.
PHN: This section is dedicated to providing information and resources to health professionals working in Primary Health Networks, including access to fact sheets, publications, key policies and guidelines, and NEDC’s purpose-built Eating Disorders Quality Improvement Tool for PHNs.
Support and Services: This section has been redesigned to support the navigation of the system of care. The updated Service Locator contains a searchable list and map of eating disorder-specific clinical services in Australia, which can be easily filtered according to state, age group, provider type, or service type. The service type categories match the different levels of treatment available within the stepped system of care. The re-designed Support and Services section also provides new information on eating disorder organisations, peer work and support programs available in Australia, and link to support for families, supports and people with lived experience.
Updated service locator
Our new service locator includes a searchable list and Google-linked map of eating disorder-specific clinical services available in Australia. There is a short description of each service, plus links to the website, phone, email and directions.
Services have been categorised according to the three levels of treatment within the stepped system of care for eating disorders (community-based treatment, community-based intensive treatment, and hospital treatment), to assist people to search for and identify services which might be most appropriate to their current needs.
Users can also narrow down their search using categories including State/Territory, Age Group and Provider Type (Private/Public). Users can choose one or multiple Service Types, as well as narrow their search further using one or multiple of the sub-categories under each service type (listed below).
Service type: Community-based
Sub-categories:
Community mental health service
Community dietetic service
Private practice (mental health)
Private practice (dietetics)
Service type: Community-based intensive
Sub-categories:
Intensive outpatient program
Day program
Service type: Hospital
Sub-categories:
Residential program
Inpatient program
Hospital in the home
Rehabilitation unit
New research highlights
Our new Research section supports NEDC’s role to promote and communicate evidence-based information on eating disorders and associated content such as disordered eating and body image. The information on the new Research highlights page draws attention to new and important research in the field of eating disorders, in particular to studies related to the stepped system of care for eating disorders in Australia. For each included research study, we provide a brief summary of the importance of the highlighted research and facilitate access to the original journal article where possible. This page will be updated weekly.
We begin with studies ranging from the impacts of COVID-19, prevalence in primary care, and neurobiological research. Find research highlights here.
PD packages
Training and supervision are key to learning and skill development in the area of eating disorders treatment. NEDC is currently offering Professional Development Packages of free training and supervision to mental health professionals and dietitians that are new to or early in their practise in eating disorders.
These packages support clinicians to meet the required training and supervision criteria for the ANZAED Eating Disorder Credential and are available to clinicians across Australia.
If you or someone you know are wanting to expand your practice and access the required training and professional development activities required for the Credential, you can find out more and apply for these packages at the connect.ed website.
Training Approvals
On 24th January, NEDC launched a Training Approvals process for trainings relevant to the ANZAED Eating Disorder Credential. These trainings include introduction to eating disorders for health professionals, evidence-based treatment models, and evidence-informed dietetic practice. From 1 July 2022, all clinicians applying for the Credential will need to have completed approved training in order to be awarded the Credential.
The NEDC Training Approvals is underpinned by the National Framework for Eating Disorders Training – A guide for training providers (the Framework). The Framework has been developed by NEDC, with the contribution of training providers across Australia. Its purpose is to align with the Credential criteria, national eating disorder and training standards, learning principles, and research, ensuring consistency and quality across eating disorder trainings. The goal is to build a skilled and competent national workforce that can provide safe and effective care and treatment for people experiencing an eating disorder, across diagnostic presentations and treatment settings.
You can find out more about the Training Approvals, including the Framework and approved trainings from the NEDC website here. NEDC look forward to future collaboration with training providers as we continue to strive towards a stronger workforce.
Upcoming training and events
MARCH:
- ANZAED hybrid event Autumn Workshop Series presents 10 workshops over two days.
- The Centre for Eating, Weight and Body Image training opportunities include Family Based Therapy for Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa presented by Dr Andrew Wallis, Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) presented by Dr Claire Burton, and SSCM for Anorexia Nervosa training with Virginia McIntosh.
- Butterfly holds webinars Body Esteem Educator Training and Understanding Eating Disorders in Young People.
- Families Empowered And Supporting Treatment for Eating Disorders (F.E.A.S.T.) presents virtual conference Feast of Knowledge.
APRIL:
- The Centre for Eating, Weight and Body Image presents training in CBT-E for Eating Disorders with Dr Anthea Fursland and Body Dysmorphic Disorder with Dr Ryan Kaplan.
- Eating Disorders Families Australia (EDFA) presents webinars Brain Stimulation for Eating Disorders with Professor Ulrike Schmidt and An Overview of Eating Disorder Therapies, with QuEDS senior social worker Carmel Fleming.
- InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders presents Understanding and Responding to Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) in Children and Adolescence with Dr Maugan Rimmer and Maudsley Family Therapy Skills 2 Day Training with Dr Andrew Wallis.
Click here to access these and other upcoming events.