Growing up with close family members struggling with eating disorders, Rebecca Eyre never imagined herself entering the field of eating disorder treatment. But as fate would have it, her journey took her there.

After pursuing her education in psychology and counseling, Rebecca found herself drawn to an internship at an eating disorder treatment center. It was there that she witnessed firsthand the transformative power of treatment and recovery, and her passion for the field was ignited.

Today, Rebecca is leading the charge as the CEO of Project Heal, breaking down barriers and increasing access to care for those struggling with eating disorders. 

Take a listen as she shares how Project Heal is increasing access to eating disorder care.

SHOW NOTES -   Making Eating Disorder Treatment More Accessible with Project Heal CEO Rebecca Eyre

CONNECT WITH REBECCA & PROJECT HEAL

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Timestamped summary of this episode:

00:00:00 - Introduction
Kristina Saffran introduces the podcast and her guest, Rebecca Eyre. They both discuss their work in the eating disorder field and Rebecca's journey into the field.

00:03:18 - Lessons from being a family member of someone with an eating disorder
Rebecca discusses how growing up around eating disorders taught her that they are about more complicated things than they seem. She also talks about how her relationship with her family members with eating disorders was strained and how it affected her.

00:06:09 - Rebecca's journey to Project Heal
Rebecca discusses her journey to Project Heal, starting with her clinical internship at an eating disorder treatment center and moving through her work in marketing and philanthropy. She talks about how her past experiences led her to Project Heal and how her mishmash of skills and jobs made her the right fit for the organization.

00:08:41 - Goals and focus areas for Project Heal
Rebecca discusses how her role as CEO of Project Heal was shaped by the pandemic and the racial justice movement. She talks about how Project Heal doubled down on its mission to help people who can't get into treatment, and how the organization had to reconfigure its resources to help more people. She also discusses how the racial justice movement led to a reckoning in the eating disorder field and how Project Heal became a more overtly social justice-oriented organization.

00:13:00 - Systemic barriers to eating disorder treatment
Rebecca discusses the eating disorder field's biases

00:14:23 - Project Heal's Impact
Project Heal has been able to increase its services by 3416% in the past three years, helping 756 people access care through clinical assessment, treatment placement, cash assistance, and insurance navigation. The organization focuses on helping marginalized communities most impacted by eating disorders, such as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled individuals.

00:17:07 - Barriers to Care
The biggest barrier to accessing quality care is weight stigma, according to Project Heal's Barriers to Access study. 70% of respondents reported it as an issue. Additionally, early screening is lacking, with the average respondent experiencing a five-year gap between onset and diagnosis. The study also found that atypical anorexia, a common eating disorder subtype, is often not covered by insurance due to weight stigma built into the diagnostic criteria.

00:18:22 - Solutions and Impact
Project Heal is working to address these barriers by providing clinical assessments and advocating for policy change through their research study. They are focused on breaking down these barriers so that anyone in the U.S. can access quality, affordable care for their eating disorder. The organization has shown significant impact in helping marginalized communities access care and increasing their services over the past few years.

00:23:22 - Designing Programs for Marginalized Communities
Project Heal has designed their programs to help individuals who have traditionally been excluded from the eating disorder field, and have seen significant success in earning the trust of these communities.

00:28:58 - Eating Disorders and Barriers to Care
Eating disorders affect not just the individual, but entire families and ecosystems. The biases towards eating disorders prevent people from accessing care, resulting in loss of loved ones. We need more representation from different communities in the eating disorder field and eating disorder competency as a licensure requirement for clinicians.

00:30:42 - Improving Eating Disorder Training and Diversity
The eating disorder field lacks representation from different communities and needs to expand. More eating disorder training is necessary to reach other communities outside the homogeneous little bucket we have here. Telehealth and virtual care have been a game-changer in terms of access to quality care from home, eliminating geographic barriers.

00:35:32 - The Exciting Progress in Telehealth and Virtual Care
The pandemic has brought progress in telehealth and virtual care, providing access to quality care from home. It eliminates the prohibitive factors for people in rural areas, those with disabilities, multiple jobs or kids, and social anxiety. The progress towards virtual care may continue since diverse communities need access to recovery.

00:36:44 - Change Needs to Happen
To make progress in the eating disorder field, a big switch flipped by a significant person with influence, a movie, or a research study that proves things that people assume to be true, aren't. We need to diversify people's visual and mental understandings of eating disorders and expand the eating disorder field to make a difference.