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NEDA TOOLKIT for Parents Costs aside, other factors may be important to the patient in selecting a treatment center: the treatment center’s philosophy (or religious affiliation, if any), multidisciplinary approach to care, distance from home, staff/patient ratio, professional qualifications of staff, their experience in treating eating disorders, and adjunct therapies offered. Some treatment centers provide therapies in addition to psychiatric counseling and pharmacotherapy, like equine therapy, massage, dance, or art therapy. These therapies may be appealing, although you may want to consider whether they’re covered by your health insurance. Some important questions to ask treatment centers are provided at the end of this document. If you are considering traveling some distance to a center, you may want to ask these questions by phone before you invest the time and expense in traveling. Also, if the patient is going to enter some type of facility, knowing how the facility plans for discharge is important. Discharge plans can be complicated and require much coordination of care among different healthcare providers. That takes time. Effective discharge planning needs to start much earlier than a day or two before the patient is expected to be discharged from a facility. Professionals in a Multi-disciplinary Care Team Primary care physician (i.e., family doctor, internal medicine doctor, pediatrician, gynecologist) Psychiatrist Nutritionist Clinical psychologist Psychopharmacologist (psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or pharmacologist with special knowledge about medications used for mental disorders) Social worker Claims advocate for reimbursement Other professionals who administer supplemental services such as massage, yoga, exercise programs, and art therapy Also important in your considerations are the type of care team a facility typically uses. Below is a list of the types of professionals that are generally recommended to be on the care team to ensure well- rounded care. Once a treatment facility decision has been made, there is another checklist of questions in a separate document in this toolkit—Questions to ask the care team—that you may want to ask the care team. Lastly, there are some questions a family may want to ask the treatment facility and care team separately (i.e., not in the presence of the patient). We have created a separate checklist in another document in the Parent Toolkit: Questions parents may want to ask treatment providers privately. Depending on the patient’s age, you may need written permission to speak about the patient with a treatment facility or member of the care team. Page | 57