NEDA TOOLKIT for Parents
Questions to ask the care team at a facility
Some of these questions pertain to particular eating disorders; some pertain to particular treatment settings; and
some pertain to any eating disorder and all settings.
What are the names, roles, titles, and contact
information of those who will treat my family
member? What other professionals will be involved in the
treatment? What treatment plan do you recommend? Do you
use current published clinical guidelines to guide
treatment? If so, which guidelines?
What’s your prognosis for the patient’s chance of a
full recovery? How long might it take? How do you
measure success?
What specific goals will be set for the treatment
plan? Is there any psychiatric diagnosis in addition to the
eating disorder? How will it be treated?
What physical/medical complications need
ongoing treatment?
What will the sequence of treatments be?
Are there alternative or adjunct treatments you
recommend? What benefits and risks are associated with the
recommended treatments and alternatives?
How can I best help my family member during
treatment? What is my role within the treatment?
How often will you talk to me about my family
member’s progress?
What if my family member doesn’t want to
participate in therapy?
What are your admissions criteria for residential,
inpatient, partial hospital, intensive, and
outpatient/inpatient care?
How much weight gain should be expected in what
time period for anorexia? What can I do to support
my family member during a time of weight gain?
Who should monitor refeeding and/or weight
status? What procedures should we follow for
weighing? How do family members determine whether purge
behavior is occurring at home? What should we do
if we notice this behavior?
If my family member is being treated as an
outpatient, how do you decide if more intensive
intervention is needed?
How often do team members communicate with
each other? (Even if the team doesn’t talk to each
other, you can serve as a liaison to relay
information.) When do you begin discharge planning? Do you
schedule and give the patient a specific follow-up
appointment date/time at discharge?
How do you follow up if the patient does not show
up for a scheduled appointment?
What are your criteria for determining whether and
when a patient needs to be hospitalized?
What happens in counseling sessions? Will there be
individual and group sessions? Will there be family
sessions? If I become very concerned about the patient, who
can I call?
How long does each counseling session last? How
many will there be? How often will they happen?
What contact can the patient have with family and
friends through the course of treatment?
What are we permitted to bring when visiting?
What are we not permitted to bring?
How will you help us prepare for the patient’s
return home?
What should we do and who should we contact in
the event of a partial or complete relapse?
What books, websites, or other sources of
information would you recommend?
Page | 61