Supports for Eating Disorders in Rural Communities

Supports for Eating Disorders in Rural Communities

Sarah Moret

U-Links, Trent University, and the National Initiative for Eating Disorders

June 2022

Online

The social determinants of health also reveal the powerful role that social factors have in shaping health across a range of indicators, settings, and populations. Our findings confirm that rural communities lack the capacity to support people with eating disorders. This study revealed a variety of factors associated with the inability to obtain effective treatment in a rural area, including poor health literacy, lack of funding and staff, direct and indirect costs of treatment, and inadequate communications and referral systems. Specifically, this study found that Haliburton County, Ontario experiences increased service barriers that allow patients to avoid or prevent treatment altogether. This study reveals the importance of increasing eating disorder training across medical settings, as well as other structural functions that impede the ability for people in rural communities to obtain efficient treatment for themselves or their loved ones.