"Who's doing eating disorder prevention?"
I have been asking this question around the region, looking for collaborators and amplifiers.
The answer I hear, "Prevention? Oh, geez, no one," and a whole lot of shaking heads and absent gazes.
The response I offer,
"Actually, you're looking at one.
(Ok, sometimes I say The One.)
I'd like to help connect with your patients and family and community members.
How can we make that happen?"
I asked and offered those questions during a big meeting today with a bunch of partners. We had been sharing our capabilities and demonstrating that we have the human resources, passion and flat out LOVE for other humans -- it's a matter of connecting the resources with the people who need them.
This is quite different from the typical organization share, where organization representatives share updates with reps from other organizations. With that type of share, the information typically goes nowhere because each organization has their own focus and agenda to amplify and market. But what about connecting to the parent who's laying awake at night, feeling stuck between really big choices?
There is a missing link. And that's where we all need to help. We all need to be connectors.
Malcolm Gladwell coined the word connectors in "The Tipping Point" as a way of describing those who have a knack for making friends and acquaintances. I'll take it a step further: connectors facilitate making the connection between someone having a need with the resource to help.
You don't have to be a 211 (which BTW is fab), but listening to the needs and offerings of those around you, and then sharing.
That's it. We all need to be sharers. We were taught this back in Kindergarten. Share. And it will be shared back.
So why do I ask about Eating Disorder Prevention?
Yes, to share that it exists and I can help.
And... to shine a light on the need for it.
So let's talk about Eating Disorder Prevention. Think about it: we have an exploding prevalence of eating disorders in youth, especially over the timeframe of social distancing/COVID and the hyper-focus on weight management and concomitant explosion of social media with direct access to youth.
There is no ONE reason for eating disorders, which incorporate a number of medical conditions with no one source. They can be heritable (meaning, run in families and with a suspected genetic tendency), situational, be related to external restriction and with external pressures. (ADD ON TO ALL OF THIS/CLARIFY/SOURCES)
Check out the Family in Focus with Wendy Schofer, MD Podcast!
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