Innovative support for young people with eating disorders

One of the unforeseen consequences of the COVID pandemic was the escalation of eating disorders in young people. In 2021 alone, the number of children and young people who were hospitalised for an eating disorder increased by 41% (NHS Digital, 2022). The explanation for this unprecedented increase is not fully understood, but quarantine certainly meant that young people felt more isolated and remote learning, and by extension, increased social media use, may have negatively affected confidence and exacerbated comorbid mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder, which are more common in young people who have eating disorders.

It is widely accepted that for young people who have eating disorders, access to effective evidence-based, high-quality care and support can improve recovery rates, lead to fewer relapses and reduce the need for inpatient admissions. With this in mind, Leicestershire & Rutland ICS commissioned Tellmi to work with the quality assured specialist eating disorders charity First Steps ED to provide early intervention and recovery support for young people aged 11 - 25. This innovative partnership between a real world counselling provider and a multi award-winning digital peer support service delivers a unique mix of global and specialist mental health support to any young person who has been identified as being at risk of having an eating disorder by school and community mental health practitioners. Young people can also self-refer, and all young people who have been discharged from the First Steps Ed counselling programme are automatically invited to join the programme.  

First Steps ED is already a well established counselling service in Leicestershire & Rutland but the integration of a digital peer support service makes it significantly easier for young people to access support. Tellmi is safe, scalable and evidenced to be effective. Anonymity makes it easier to be open and therefore, a large proportion of Tellmi posts are first time disclosures. Unlike 1-2-1 counselling, peer support is uniquely scalable because young people help themselves, by helping each other. Tellmi is the only peer support app that the NHS considers safe for children as young as 11 because it is 100% pre-moderated by humans, and all posts and replies are risk- assessed and published within 30 minutes. A team of qualified counsellors deal with high risk posts behind the scenes and trained SuperPeers® ensure that every post gets a good reply. The Tellmi app integrates with other services in the care pathway through an extensive directory of over 600+ resources & services.

The project began in March 2022 and and the first quarter was focussed on setup and training for both service teams. The second quarter, which began in September 2022, is focused on a community engagement campaign to raise awareness. Tellmi, who specialise in youth engagement, have produced printed and digital marketing materials which are currently being distributed to schools and community centres in the area. So far, 84 young people from Leicestershire and Rutland have used the Tellmi Service to seek help with 314 different issues. Tellmi expect this number to increase significantly now that school is back and in school marketing campaigns begin. Early intervention is much more cost effective for the NHS, and data from First Steps ED confirms that, so far, 65% of young people who have used the service feel that it has reduced their reliance on other services including the NHS.