Evaluation of the Communities of Healing Mentorship/Support Group Program: Assessment of Preliminary Efficacy
Condition: Eating Disorder; Anorexia Nervosa; Bulimia Nervosa; Binge-Eating Disorder
MeSH terms: Anorexia; Bulimia; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Anorexia Nervosa; Binge-Eating Disorder; Bulimia Nervosa
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The goal of the study is to evaluate two 6-month adjunct interventions (peer mentorship and
      social support mentorship) for individuals with eating disorders. Individuals will be
      randomized to peer-mentorship, social support mentorship, or a wait-list and eating disorder
      symptoms will be evaluated at baseline and post-treatment.
    

Detailed description: 
      Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses associated with significant morbidity and high
      relapse rates. Patients are at especially high risk of relapse after leaving structured
      treatment (e.g., hospitalization). Adjunct interventions targeting patients' motivation and
      participation in treatment at these times may help patients recover from eating disorders.
      Project HEAL is a non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce suffering caused by
      eating disorders, and they have recently developed two adjunct, mentorship-based
      interventions for patients in recovery. In the peer mentorship condition, individuals meet
      weekly with a peer mentor who has previously recovered from an eating disorder in order to
      discuss symptoms and coping strategies. In the social support mentorship condition,
      individuals meet weekly with a social support mentor who has not personally struggled with an
      eating disorder in order to engage in activities unrelated to the eating disorder. The aim of
      the current study is to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of this intervention. The
      design of the study is a three-arm randomized controlled trial comparing peer mentorship,
      social-support mentorship, and wait-list control conditions. Participants in the study will
      be randomized to one of the three conditions for six months. Wait-list participants will
      subsequently receive either type of mentorship. Participants will complete assessments of
      their eating disorder symptoms at baseline, monthly throughout the course of the study, and
      one year after beginning the study. Outcomes will be compared between groups.
    

Intervention name(s): Peer mentorship; Social support mentorship; Recovery Record use with mentor
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Weekly meetings with a recovered peer mentor once per week. Dyads discuss eating disorder symptoms and how to overcome them.; Weekly meetings with a social support mentor who has not personally struggled with an eating disorder, once per week. Dyads engage in activities unrelated to the eating disorder (e.g., a movie, a community event, volunteer work).; Recovery Record is a smart phone or web-based application designed to provide recovery support to eating disorder patients. Includes a number of features aimed to promote recovery, such as a meal tracking, prompts for completing meals/snacks, tracking for additional symptoms such as stress and mood, motivational messages, information about coping strategies, and capacity to share logged data with clinicians and mentors.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Randomization occurs at the beginning of each individual's participation in the study. Participants are randomized to one condition and not re-randomized during any portion of the study
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care