Helping Kiwis fully recover from eating disorders
Jessica Cartwright
Thousands of New Zealanders are battling eating disorders. Waitlists for support are extremely high, but not only that, the standard of available care isn’t meeting the needs of those struggling.
Around 103,000 people in the country suffer from an eating disorder and it’s estimated that 70% of those people do not have access to the help they need.
New Zealanders deserve better and Recovered Living is on a mission to provide just that through its non-profit, purpose-built residential treatment facility in North Canterbury.
Convergence is working with Recovered Living to raise awareness about New Zealand’s eating disorder crisis, the facility’s work to help those struggling fully recover and to try to secure government funding.
Recovered Living is New Zealand’s only facility offering a full continuum of care for people with eating disorders, which includes residential, day and partial programmes, as well as virtual outpatient services.
The programme is based on a world-leading treatment model developed in the United States, which has helped hundreds of people fully recover from their eating disorder. Recovered Living provides 24/7 wraparound support in a home-style environment by a team that includes a general practitioner (GP), psychiatrist, nutritionists, counsellors, nurses, recovery coaches and a chef. Many of their team have recovered from eating disorders themselves.
Recovered Living seeks to provide world-class care that is affordable for everyone. Currently, due to a lack of government funding and support, all clients – with the exception of the small number who have an eating disorder covered under a Sensitive Claim by ACC – must self-fund the majority of their treatment.
We recently developed a Briefing to Incoming Ministers (BIM) to introduce Recovered Living and the current funding situation to the new Government. We have also provided digital, social and media relations support, with some of the work we’ve done pro bono.
As a result of our work, Recovered Living and its client’s stories were recently profiled by TVNZ 1NEWS. Watch the full news story here.
We’ve lost too many people to this heartbreaking, but all too familiar, illness. Convergence is proud to help shine a light on this important issue and to represent a client that is truly dedicated to changing the lives of Kiwis.
