The public defence will be held as a video conference over Zoom.
The defence will follow regular procedure as far as possible, hence it will be open to the public and the audience can ask ex auditorio questions when invited to do so.
Click here to participate in the public defence
Due to copyright reasons, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. In order for the faculty to have time to process the order, it must be received by the faculty no later than 2 days prior to the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. Inquiries regarding the thesis after the public defence must be addressed to the candidate.
Digital Trial Lecture – time and place
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Senior Consultant Ulf Wallin, KompetensCentrum Ätstörningar Syd, Sweden
- Second opponent: Professor Bente Weimand, The University of South-Eastern Norway (USN)
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Associate Professor Kristin Romvig Øvergaard, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Emeritus Svein Friis, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor II Jan Ivar Røssberg, University of Oslo
Summary
The transition from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to adult mental health services (AMHS) often represents a difficult period for patients with anorexia nervosa and their parents. They become disconnected from CAMHS and often have start-up challenges in AMHS. Together with former service users, we conducted a qualitative study to explore experiences with the CAMHS-AMHS transition from three different perspectives, represented in each article included in this dissertation.
In this dissertation, we discuss three main themes collectively representing the different perspectives. We anchored our theoretical understanding of transitions in Melisis` Transition theory. First, the fact that unprepared transitions have systemic explanations and contribute to personal and health-related consequences. Overall, the transition from CAMHS to AMHS is experienced as unprepared, without consideration of the patient’s individual needs during the transition period. Being unprepared complicates the patients and parents’ disconnection from CAMHS and makes the startup in AMHS difficult. Preparing the transition, should create a better chance of a successful transition. Preparations should explicitly describe the differences between services for both parents and patients. Good collaboration is essential in achieving continuity in treatment and closing the gap between the services. However, managing this collaboration is experienced as challenging due to systematic barriers. Second, different treatment cultures between the services—implying a difference in attitudes toward patients’ autonomy and parents' role in treatment—negatively affect treatment and recovery. These manifested differences made it challenging to consider the individual patients’ level of maturity and ability to be self-sufficient. With AMHS routinely not involving parents, they felt excluded from their adolescents’ treatment. As they are often responsible for providing meal support and serving as their adolescents’ care providers in this period, the lack of involvement was constraining and created stress for parents. The transition period was perceived as a very uncertain time, with negative consequences for both patients’ health and parents’ wellbeing. Third, knowledge is one of the most important factors in the transition. From the patient’s perspective, professional competence was vital for developing trust and feeling safe with the new professional in AMHS. From the professional’s perspective, they felt overwhelming expectations toward their level of knowledge and felt that the patients had high demands, which created uncertainty and self-doubt. The parents experienced how important it was for them to have enough knowledge and that the professional must have competence in knowing when and how to use the parent’s competence and collaborate in the transition.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.