Since, opening its doors in January 2012, the VCH Eating Disorders Program on East Hastings has had an incredible 800 referrals and has helped over 500 clients and their families.

“In two years, from nothing to a fully functioning program, I’m very proud of what the team here has managed to do…it has been a huge accomplishment,” says Anne Merrett-hiley, coordinator of the program.

Surprisingly, and contrary to stereotypes, a growing number of those clients have been men.

“For women, it’s often about wanting to lose weight – for men, it’s often about wanting to have the perfect chiselled body,” Anne explains.  “The more pressure there is as a society for both men and women to look a certain way, the greater the risk for developing an eating disorder.”

“We help the full-age spectrum – from children and youth all the way up to adults,” Anne says. “The transition from child and youth to adult is fairly seamless and that’s really important because we do not want clients to fall through the cracks.”

It’s a process

While emphasizing that recovery from an eating disorder is a process, Anne says the program team tries to proactively tackle eating disorder issues in children before they become entrenched.

“The earlier you catch it, the better their chance for a full recovery.”

The team includes a nurse, a family therapist,  an adult psychiatrist, a dietitian, an outreach counsellor, a recreation therapist as well as adult and child and youth physicians and therapists.

The busy program has a regional focus, offering support to mental health services in rural and remote communities. In addition, it works closely with the Provincial Tertiary Programs at BCCH and St. Paul’s Hospital.

In partnership with the provincial tertiary eating disorders program at St. Paul’s Hospital (through their Vista House and community outreach partnership program). VCH also supports the Richmond Eating Disorders Program and the North Shore Youth Eating Disorders Program, ensuring valuable community services in those regions.

The overwhelming community response to the opening of this program, clearly supports the great need for these services.

“We were asked to fill a gap in the continuum of eating disorder services in VCH by the community – I think it’s safe to say that we’re  doing that,” says Anne, who is obviously proud of her team.

Need help?

From February 2 to 8, it’s Canadian National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Learn more here about local activities and the Provincial Eating Disorders Awareness campaign.

If you are in need of help for an eating disorder, you can contact the Employee and Family Assistance Program about a range of free services and resources for VCH staff.