Background: This presentation depicts how the research-clinical practice divide is being bridged on college campuses. The following information will be discussed: Preventative programming; multidisciplinary collaboration with different departments within the university, broader community, and national organizations; as well as indices that contraindicate specific interventions for certain groups of students.
Objectives: Following this presentation, participants will be able to:1)identify ways in which research is being integrated into practice on college campuses; 2)identify ways to most aptly create partnerships in post-secondary institutions for eating disorder outreach and intervention efforts; 3) explain how practitioners can determine when certain interventions (e.g., food labeling, encouraging body monitoring, encouraging increases in exercise) stand to be contraindicated for certain groups of students.
1) Preventative programming efforts, such as implementation of dissonance-based eating disorder interventions (e.g., the Body Project), awareness campaigns, and outreach efforts;
2) how multidisciplinary collaboration among different departments within the university, broader community setting, and national organizations are integral to the success of eating disorder prevention and intervention initiatives in university settings;
3) factors that contraindicate specific interventions—such as nutritional food labeling in dining halls, encouraging use of body monitoring tactics (e.g., self-weighing, use of smartphone health "apps"), and recommending that individuals increase their exercise regiments—for certain groups of students, as evidenced by the research literature and data on the university's student population.
In an effort to meet these aims, data from the multi-institute Health Bodies Study utilizing a sample of students from the current university will be integrated throughout the presentation. The aforementioned information will be disseminated, followed by the allotment of time for a didactic question and answer session with the university’s registered dietitian.
Kelly Romano is a graduate student in the Mental Health Counseling MS/EdS program at Florida State University (FSU). She currently works as a research assistant in FSU's Center for Health Advocacy and Wellness. Ms. Romano similarly works as a clinical intern at an eating disorder treatment center, Better Living Solutions, in Tallahassee, Florida. Her primary clinical and research interests include the onset and maintenance of eating and substance use disorders, with particular focus on how these disorders impact the overall well-being of college students.
Christina Colgary is a doctoral student in the Combined Counseling Psychology and School Psychology Program at Florida State University. She is from New Jersey and received her BS in Psychology from Saint Joseph’s University and her MS in Experimental Psychology from Seton Hall University. Her clinical and research interests include eating disorder symptomology in adolescence and adulthood, mindfulness meditation, multiculturalism, stress regulation, and help-seeking behaviors. Christina is also a Graduate Assistant at the Center for Health Advocacy and Wellness at Florida State University where she researches topics pertaining to prevention efforts on college campuses for eating disorders and substance abuse.
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Heather Fisher, MS, RDN, CEDRD
Heather Fisher is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, CEDRD, who received her M.S. in Food and Nutrition from Florida State University (FSU). She works in the Center for Health Advocacy and Wellness Department of University Health Services. She provides individual nutrition education and counseling to students and leads campus-wide efforts related to nutrition, healthy food initiatives, body positive promotion, and eating disorders prevention. Heather previously worked in private practice and at the Remuda Ranch Eating Disorders Treatment Facility in Arizona. She has given multiple presentations pertaining to nutritional concerns within the college student population at regional and national conferences.
