Maria Nicula is a first-year PhD student in the Health Research Methodology program at McMaster University. Maria’s research interests are focused upon
(1) developing, implementing, and evaluating eating disorder interventions for patients and caregivers, (2) incorporating patient and partners voices into research and strengthening research methodology in the field of eating disorders, as well as (3) addressing weight stigma in primary care settings. More specifically, in her doctoral work, she is building a program of research dedicated towards improving the healthcare transition for patients with eating disorders from pediatric to adult care.
Exploring the Experiences of Individuals Impacted by Eating Disorder Symptoms with a Virtual Support Program: A Canadian Qualitative Study
Funded in collaboration with Mitacs and the Knowledge Institute for Child & Youth Mental Health and Addictions, Maria Nicula, a student of McMaster University, will be working with Body Brave to explore users’ experiences with and perspectives of a low-barrier, stepped care virtual eating disorder support program.
Body Brave is a charity located in Hamilton, Ontario that provides accessible eating disorder treatment and support. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Body Brave received an overwhelming increase in the number of treatment requests. In response to this need, they collaborated with Careteam Technologies (Vancouver, BC) to develop an PHIPA-compliant virtual service called the Recovery Support Program (RSP). The RSP provides users with various modalities of support, including check-ins, self-guided support sessions, access to peer support services, and resources to promote mental health literacy and guidance on where to access additional support to meet their needs.
In her qualitative research study, Maria will gather users’ experiences with and perspectives of the RSP using semi-structured qualitative interviews guided by the principles of qualitative description. In addition, she will work with RSP users to understand the role of low-barrier, scalable, virtual care (such as the RSP) more generally along the continuum of eating disorder supports available to Canadians.