LAWRENCE, Kan. (KNS) – Researchers at the University of Kansas have created a smartphone app that can help treat eating disorders. The app uses existing eating disorder resources, but gives participants more control over when to access those materials. It also includes virtual check-ins with trained providers that can be difficult to schedule in-person due to long waitlists or transportation challenges.
Research team member Kara Christensen says university health centers are already overwhelmed and a lot of them don’t have someone trained to treat eating disorders. The app provides a new treatment option. “When students are identified as having a disorder, they’re referred out. And that typically means they don’t get care,” Christensen said. “We’re hoping that this could be a program that could fill some of those gaps.”
Christensen says the next step is testing the app on other college campuses across the country.
The National Eating Disorders Association says 30 million Americans will have an eating disorder during their lives.
