People with eating disorders wait an average of more than two-and-a-half years between the onset of symptoms and the start of treatment. UC San Francisco has received a five-year federal grant of more than $9 million to help change that.
UCSF is creating a national Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders aimed at improving early identification and access to treatment, backed by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It will combine UCSF Health's clinical excellence in the field with UCSF's research and education innovation.
The center will train health care providers nationwide, develop new educational and clinical tools, and bring together experts working to advance eating disorders research and care.
The prevalence of eating disorders has more than doubled in recent decades, with especially troubling increases among teens and young adults. Emerging research also points to increases among historically underdiagnosed populations, including Latino youth and adolescent males.
Housed in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine within UCSF's Department of Pediatrics, the center will train health care providers to identify and screen for eating disorders and connect children and adults with appropriate treatment. It will also develop curricula for medical schools, residencies, and fellowships, and train community members, such as coaches and teachers, to identify and support people at risk.
"People with eating disorders encounter many adults before they encounter a specialist, and those adults need to know what to recognize and what to do," said UCSF Health pediatrician Jennifer Carlson, MD, project director of the new center and clinical professor of pediatrics in UCSF's Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine. "We want to reach all types of health professionals, including dietitians, physical therapists, and child life specialists, as well as people outside of health care, and give them the tools to recognize when someone may need help and know what to do next."
The center will also serve as a national hub for eating disorders research, connecting investigators across institutions and disciplines.
"Sometimes research is done in a siloed way," Carlson said. "This center will give us the ability to unite people who are doing different but complementary research across the country and help speed the translation of that research into clinical practice."
Power of three: education, research, clinical care
In building the center, UCSF will draw on its internationally renowned eating disorders program, active research, and track record in workforce development. These efforts include the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health Program, which trains graduate and postdoctoral health professionals for leadership roles, and the California Child and Adolescent Mental Health Access Portal, which trains primary care providers to address mental health concerns.
"UCSF is uniquely positioned for this work because we are involved in education, research, and clinical care, and we have a strong collaboration between pediatrics and psychiatry," said pediatrician Sara Buckelew, MD, MPH, medical director of the UCSF Eating Disorders Program and curriculum director for the new center. "We also have experts focused on improving access to care for veterans, male adolescents, and other underserved populations."
By its fifth year, the center aims to train more than 1,000 health care providers annually. It will also develop screening tools, training models, toolkits, and clinical decision support for electronic health records; host national conferences and webinars; maintain a public-facing website; and lead outreach campaigns to raise awareness and combat stigma around eating disorders.
"We have an opportunity to help people recognize eating disorders earlier and connect more patients and families with the care they need," Carlson said. "We've got a lot to do, and we're excited to get started."
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