prevention and early detection efforts.
Though the number of respondents aware
of whether a program had success out-
comes was very low, the outcomes results
reported did indicate that they are hav-
ing a positive impact with respect to their
stated goals.
When asked what challenges institutions
face in providing eating disorder services,
85% identified lack of resources as their
greatest challenge, most frequently citing:
• Limited funding
• Lack of staff/no eating disorder
specialist • Lack of time
• Stigma preventing outreach involve-
ment and student use of services
provided Increased program and service evaluations
would aid campus staff in determining
how to make the best use of the resources
they have available and plan for future
programming needs. Increased fund-
ing for the resources identified as most
critical would help to close the gaps in
importance–frequency disparities.
Evidence that education and outreach
efforts have a positive impact on resource
awareness and help–seeking behavior:
NEDA’s program outcomes data show a
sharp spike in help–seeking behavior—in
the form of calls/emails to our Helpline,
requests for support and guidance from a
NEDA Navigator and information–seeking
on our website—during the timeframe of
National Eating Disorders Awareness.
Additional research by Tillman et al. (2012)
reported that students who attended one–
time intervention programs knew more
about available on–campus resources for
students experiencing body image issues
and eating disorders than students who
did not attend programming.
NEDA programs and services are
currently supporting the needs of
campuses, but we can improve by
developing more population–spe-
cific resources. And we are working
hard to do just that.
The findings suggest that students who
attended one–time intervention programs
for NEDAwareness Week had higher levels
of factual knowledge of available campus
resources for body image issues and eating
disordered behaviors than students who
did not attend campus programming for
NEDAwareness Week.
When asked what NEDA could do to
support efforts to provide the best servic-
es and resources to their student body,
responses fell into three main categories:
• Continue current work providing a
Helpline, treatment referrals, and eat-
ing disorder information.
• Continue current work providing NEDA
Awareness Week materials.
• Offer more resources specific to popula
tions, such as:
Lack of resources is the biggest bar-
rier to implementation identified,
and service/program evaluations
are needed to determine the best
use of limited campus resources to
identify and help students struggling.
° Men
° Specific racial and ethnic groups
° College students
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