Alberta’s first residential eating disorder program to open in Calgary

A new residential eating disorder treatment program is set to be built in Calgary with the aim of closing a “significant gap” in the continuum of care, according to the province.

On Wednesday the government announced $5.3 million over three years to establish a live-in recovery program for Albertans aged 13 to 24. The funding will go to 12 new publicly funded beds that will be run by Edgewood Health Network (EHN).

“The new program will … increase treatment capacity by 200 per cent and support up to 72 additional youth and young adults every year,” said the province.

The funding will complement the $1 million already raised by Calgary’s Silver Linings Foundation to build a dedicated eating disorder treatment facility.

“Eating disorders have been increasing in youth at an exponential pace since the start of the pandemic and can affect anyone regardless of gender, sex, or socio-economic background,” said Cendrine Tremblay, board chair of the foundation.

“The live-in treatment facility will address a significant gap in the current continuum of care for eating disorders and help provide hope to those impacted by this illness.”

The province said having access to live-in treatment will reduce the need for long hospital stays and provide a better outcome, adding the average time a patient spends in residential treatment is around two months.

The Silver Linings Foundation said on its website that eating disorders have the highest rate of death of any other psychiatric disorder, with 10 per cent of those suffering from eating disorders dying within ten years of the beginning of their disorder.

About 55,000 people in Albertan have an eating disorder, 90 per cent of whom are female, according to the foundation.

by 630CHED