Breaking Barriers: Alex McCord's Innovative Tools to Support

Alex McCord, a PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology at the University of New England (UNE), is breaking new ground in the treatment of eating disorders.

Alex's research is focused on the development of tools to better support parents and caregivers of young people undergoing eating disorder treatment. Central to this effort is the creation of the Care-FIT clinical tools - a conceptual model and an assessment measure - designed to help clinicians identify and address the specific strengths and challenges faced by individual families. "The goal is to tailor treatment to better support the young person's recovery," Alex explains.

Alex's passion for the topic stems from years of work in adolescent mental health. "I have spent the past few years working primarily in adolescent mental health, where I encounter many young people with eating disorders. Caregiver support is key to recovery for young people, and it is well-documented in the field that additional resources and help for caregivers are needed," she says.

Recognising the challenges caregivers face - from the physical and emotional burden to barriers like isolation, food insecurity, and mental health struggles - Alex developed Care-FIT to bridge the gap.

"The Care-FIT assessment is designed to help clinicians identify what obstacles a particular family faces, so they may be better supported," Alex says. "Families might be isolated, there may be other mental health struggles, or caregivers may lack confidence or knowledge to approach their child's eating disorder. There may also be untapped strengths, such as an extended family or a community base of support, which can be activated."

The tools aim to optimize outcomes by tailoring treatment to each family's specific needs, potentially improving recovery rates. "Once a family's individual needs are identified, treatment can be tailored to give them the best chance of remaining engaged.

"This might include recommending additional therapies, adaptations to treatment, or connecting families with social services."

Image: The research has already gained recognition, with Alex receiving the 2024 Peter Beumont Award for early career research in eating disorders from the Australia and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders (ANZAED).

The research has already gained recognition, with Alex receiving the 2024 Peter Beumont Award for early career research in eating disorders from the Australia and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders (ANZAED).

Early stages of the research have shown great success, with stages 1 and 2 producing the Care-FIT conceptual model and a preliminary version of the Care-FIT assessment. Alex tested the model using the Delphi technique with a panel of anonymous subject matter experts from UNE and across the globe. "The feedback has been invaluable in refining the tools," Alex shares.

Currently, Alex is collecting data for stages three and four of the research. "Stage three involves enrolling parents and caregivers who are now or have recently participated in eating disorder treatment for a young person. Stage four is enrolling clinicians who provide family-based eating disorder treatment to pilot test the Care-FIT measure with caregivers," Alex explains. With a goal of submitting her PhD in early 2025, Alex is in the final push to enrol participants. "Enrolment has been the biggest challenge, which is why we are actively seeking caregivers and clinicians to participate, to help us refine the Care-FIT assessment so it best reflects the issues facing families."

Alex is energized by the potential impact of her work. "I am very excited about finding ways to help parents and caregivers successfully engage in eating disorder treatment," she says. "We know that the best possible chance of recovery for a young person is with the help of a consistent, committed adult or adults. Using the Care-FIT tools at initial assessment may help avoid treatment disruptions by identifying potential barriers early."

Looking ahead, Alex envisions the tools being validated through clinical trials and made freely available to eating disorder clinicians worldwide. "I hope that following the initial psychometric validation of the Care-FIT, the tools can be used in clinical trials and more widely be freely available in the public domain," she says.

Image: Alex with Supervisor, Dr Kylie Rice (left) with fellow researchers at the UNE Graduate Research Conference.

Research Participants Needed

Alex is currently after survey participants to help with research into eating disorder treatment for children or adolescents.

Are you a parent or caregiver who is currently involved in or has recently participated in eating disorder treatment for a child or adolescent aged 6-18? If so, we need your valuable insights to improve support for families navigating these challenges.

Why Participate?

Our research team at the University of New England has developed a tool to better understand the challenges and strengths caregivers experience during treatment. Your input will help refine this tool to improve care and outcomes for families.

What's Involved?

• Who: Caregivers of children aged 6-18 involved in eating disorder treatment.
• What: A short, anonymous online survey.
• Time: One session.

Find out more and take the survey.

• Contact:
• UNE Social Media Team
• +61 2 6773 5114
• [email protected]