The Impact of Virtual Eating Disorder Treatment

As the pandemic enters the third year, many people are taking stock of how things have changed in their lives. It’s trite these days to say things won’t go back to the way they were, but that’s the truth. And eating disorder treatment is also changed forever.

I have written about some of these changes in recent months. The increased incidence of eating disorders during the pandemic has strained the treatment community and made it even harder to find help. The growing residential treatment industry continues to be inundated with new patients. Online resources which provides more access to general care is a new, growing business. Advertising on social media has promoted the idea of health with respect to food and body.

These changes are here to stay and will only grow in the future, but nothing has led to a more profound shift in eating disorder treatment than virtual sessions and virtual clinical practices.

I and many of my colleagues had virtual sessions before the pandemic for many years. The growth of virtual care had been slow but steady both as technology improved and as the health care system accepted virtual sessions as a norm.

The pandemic led to 100% virtual care which matured this new provider system very quickly. The convenience and ease of virtual treatment appealed to both patients and clinicians. The healthcare system fast forwarded its acceptance of remote care. And treatment approaches adapted to accommodate some of the new barriers imposed by the screen. 

But what was most important is how virtual sessions have improved access. People who live in communities distant from eating disorder clinicians, students away at college or people who moved because of the pandemic suddenly had as much access as anyone. The imbalance of treatment and the dependence on location no longer applied. The seemingly unsolvable problem of access to care was solved.

It’s amazing how a crisis can sometimes reveal a solution that was right in front of our noses. And with the revelation that virtual sessions can be effective, real treatment is now available to almost anyone who needs it. That’s a true achievement in the field.