What are youth and families actually experiencing when faced with an eating disorder in Alberta?
A Codesign Project with J5 Design
Silver Linings Foundation has provided support for people recovering from eating disorders. Over the past 8 years we have significantly expanded the range of resources and support we offer, to meet an increasing need for our services. In 2021 we experienced a 163% increase in demand over the year prior. Keeping up with that demand is a high priority, but ensuring the support we provide is relevant and effective is the most important part of our work. The pandemic has compounded existing mental health issues and created new ones where there hadn’t been any. We needed a deeper understanding of the journey for those with eating disorders in Alberta. We set out to dig deeper into the journey that youth and families experience when faced with an eating disorder (ED)? What is missing and what are the resources we need to better care for our young people? Thankful to a generous grant from the Government of Alberta we engaged J5 Design to lead this codesign project. We chose to work with J5 , a team of strategic thinkers that employ human-centred design methods to improve how people live, work and play. The following is an overview of our work with them over the past 6 months.
Phase 1
The first phase of the project focused on building empathy to better understand the needs, hope and challenges of people facing eating disorders. Better understanding of the core needs of this community will increase the likelihood that future solutions will be embraced and adopted. We held 25 interviews with youth, adults, parents and clinicians.
Key themes that emerged:
eating disorders are complex and misunderstood – which might contribute to why so few services are in place.
Youth and parents do not know where to go if they are “not sick enough” to be admitted to the hospital and enter “a spiral”.
Families are left to find private community resources only accessible to those with financial means.
Phase 2
The second phase focused on current landscape of eating disorders in Alberta.. Two workshops were held with clients and clinicians separately to describe the current journey.
Key themes that emerged:
More effort and resources need to be devoted to prevention and early intervention
Culturally diverse and appropriate services are missing in the community
Youth are either not sick enough to be admitted to the hospital or too sick to access day programs
Treatment and awareness need to be rooted in a holistic model (not a sickness-based medical model)
Healthcare professionals need to recognize the signs and understand the relationship between mental, emotional, and physical expressions of ED
Better transition from inpatient treatment to the community
Services for adults with EDs is missing and overlooked
Phase 3
The third phase asked participants to design ideas for the future to better support youth and families. Seven ideas were fleshed out in the workshop. Here are some of the key concepts: :
A live-in treatment facility in Alberta for youth who need 3-4 month support
A “train the trainer” program to provide education on early recognition of disordered eating in schools, non profit organizations, sports and recreation clubs
A community-based eating disorder clinic that provides access to a variety of eating disorders professionals and supports early intervention approaches
An ED Hotline that provides access to information and referrals to non-medical supports and utilizes a case management model.
We wrapped the codesign project in November 2022 with a much clearer idea of what individuals and families need to feel supported through recovery. Many of the next steps outlined in phase 3 are underway. The wheels are in motion for our live-in recovery centre and we are assembling a formal proposal for a “Train the Trainer” program to acquire funding and development for testing. We are incredibly appreciative to J5 for facilitating these insightful workshops and to all of our participants (over 40 individuals) who generously gave their time to a great cause. ! Thank you to everyone who participated , your ideas are helping shape a better future for Albertans with eating disorders. .
Check out the video of our process here:
Mapping the Eating Disorder Journey
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