Supporting the Pride Community with Culturally Competent Eating Disorder Care

Amidst the festive Pride Month celebrations, it's essential to highlight issues that disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ individuals so we can best support our friends, family, and community year-round. While it is well known that access to culturally competent healthcare is a critical concern for the LGBTQ+ community, you might not realize that eating disorders – a serious mental health condition, remains under-diagnosed and under-addressed for this population.

Did you know that eating disorders have the 2nd highest mortality rate of any mental illness, or that someone dies every 52 minutes as the direct result of an eating disorder (source)? Let’s take a closer look at the numbers within the LGBTQ+ community.

• Increased Suicide Risk for Youth: LGBTQ+ youth diagnosed with eating disorders face nearly four times greater odds of attempting suicide? (source).
• Transgender Individuals: 32% of transgender people use eating disorders as a means to modify their bodies in the absence of hormone replacement therapy (source).
• Gay Men: Significantly more likely to engage in disordered eating behaviors, with rates of binging and purging being seven and 12 times higher, respectively, than their heterosexual counterparts (source).
• Lesbians: 34.7% have been diagnosed with an eating disorder, with an additional 66.7% reporting significant risk factors for developing one (source).

Despite these staggering numbers, eating disorders are still often viewed as a problem primarily affecting white, cisgender women. This misconception contributes to the underdiagnosis and undertreatment of eating disorders in the LGBTQ+ population. Healthcare providers may lack the training to recognize and address these issues within the LGBTQ+ community, further exacerbating the problem.

The good news is that organizations like EDCare understand the issue well and supports all individuals in navigating an eating disorder by meeting them where they are.

Key Strategies We Use to Support Our LGBTQ+ Patients

For those struggling with eating disorders, finding the proper care is vital. To better support LGBTQ+ individuals who come through our doors seeking help, our team at EDCare emphasizes the following approaches:

• Using Correct Pronouns and Chosen Names: Respecting individuals' identities is fundamental to creating a safe and welcoming environment.
• Create Warm and Welcoming Facilities: Ensuring that our treatment spaces are inviting and non-clinical helps mitigate the medical trauma many LGBTQ+ individuals may have experienced in the past. This also includes an accessible gender-neutral bathroom and equitable housing for patients in our Partial Hospitalization Programs.?
• Provide Culturally Competent Care: Tailoring treatment plans to address the unique experiences and challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals is crucial for effective treatment and recovery.
• LGBTQ+ Process Group: A weekly LGBTQ+ process group to provide a space for? patients who hold these identities to discuss unique concerns that may not be addressed in larger group settings.
• Educate Healthcare Providers: Training providers on the prevalence and specifics of eating disorders within the LGBTQ+ community to improve diagnosis and care.
• Foster Safe Spaces for Healing: Building an environment where patients feel safe, understood, and supported in their journey toward recovery.
• Providing Tailored, Helpful, and Supportive Resources: In addition to the services we provide within our four walls, we recommend? The Trevor Project as a specialized resource tailored to the needs of the LGBTQ+ community.

As we celebrate Pride Month, let’s commit to raising awareness about the intersection of LGBTQ+ identities and eating disorders. By doing so, we can help ensure everyone has access to the compassionate and competent care they deserve.

If you need support or have questions about the services the EDCare team provides, please visit our website.