The Evaluation of Therapeutic Residential Care for Adolescents and Young Adults in France: A Systematic Review

Admission and goodbye letters from adolescents with anorexia nervosa in a day hospital

BACKGROUND

Care providers working with adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) encounter difficulties inherent in the illness (denial, ambivalence) and those related to the fact that it is most often the parents who bring adolescents to care units. Our aim was to study attitudes towards care among adolescents with AN treated in a specialised day hospital using an analysis of letters written before and after treatment.

METHODS

Adolescents (12-20 years old) treated for AN in a specialised day hospital, providing multidisciplinary care while enabling a return to schooling inside the facility were included. We analysed 50 admission letters and 23 goodbye letters using general inductive analysis. A mirror analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

In the admission letters, symptoms, calls for help, and reports on the adolescents' care trajectories were central themes. Among the categories noted in both the admission and the goodbye letters, some were similar, some mirrored others and a few differed.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights how ambivalence and motivations towards care, recovery and illness all interact. It also shows the evolution of the adolescents' positions via their narratives on their experience of care, the constraints involved and its benefits for them. The results are discussed in a care perspective.

Psychosocial Exoskeletons: Normal Development, Psychopathological and Sociopathological Phenomena, and Therapeutic Applications

In medical therapeutics, exoskeleton refers to external protections, supports, and appliances. By analogy, psychosocial exoskeletons can be envisioned as assistive psychological and social structures that brace and extend individuals' coping abilities. This article considers the utility of defining "psychosocial exoskeletons" as a framework to encompass psychological and social devices that enhance coping, and "therapeutic psychosocial exoskeletons" as devices assisting psychiatric treatment. Clinical observations were augmented via selective narrative review using PubMed and PsychInfo.A range of psychological and social devices were identified that constitute psychosocial exoskeletons. In extremes, psychosocial exoskeletons may prescribe comprehensive lifestyles including dress, rites, taboos, and acceptable relationships. These devices may enhance normal or psychopathological development.Therapeutic psychosocial exoskeletons consist of intentionally prescribed psychotherapeutic and sociotherapeutic interventions assembled to address patient-centered problems. Elements may include counseling and psychotherapies, peer-based recovery programs, institutional programs, and social interventions involving financial assistance, supported employment, pets, and other practical resources.