The ANASA Day Center is the first effort of ANASA to provide primary health services to those suffering from Eating Disorders (Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa, Episodic Binge Eating Disorder). It is the first and only day hospital in Greece, specialized in eating disorders, that provides free diagnosis, treatment and counseling services for sufferers and their families.

It was inaugurated in October 2008, one year after the foundation of ANASA as the requests for treatment and help from patients and their families were so many that the objectives of the organization were redefined and the establishment of a structure for the treatment of patients was set as an urgent priority.

The Day Center operates as a versatile day care and multidimensional treatment unit for patients with Eating Disorders, primarily as an outpatient clinic, aiming for diagnosis, treatment, social integration or reintegration and functional autonomy of its members supporting their families in the same time.

The principle of interdisciplinarity is a key point of reference for the activities of the Day Center, as the complexity of Eating Disorders makes their treatment almost impossible without the collaboration of health professionals of different specialties. At our Center, the therapeutic team consists of: psychiatrists, a child psychiatrist, a general practitioner, psychologists and a nutritionist.

The therapeutic framework includes psychotherapy (individual, family, group,) medication, family counseling, dietary counseling, psychoeducation.

The aims of the Day Center are:

• The use of epidemiological data to formulate policies to deal with eating disorders.
• The acquisition of new knowledge about the Greek reality and the improvement of therapeutic interventions.
• The operation of prevention and health promotion programs to raise awareness among the population (students, parents, teachers).
• The organization of training seminars for mental health specialists on Eating Disorders.

The operational costs of the Day Center and the doctors’ fees are financed by the Ministry of Health. Specifically, the ANASA Day Center is subsidized based on the official monitoring and financial control system implemented by the Ministry of Health for the mental health structures that it supervises, which is based on the number of beneficiaries. It is clarified that the action of the Board of Directors is voluntary.