In 2023, around 200 boys and girls entered the rehabilitation process which also includes artistic and creative activities, music therapy and cooking workshops with chef Luca Marchini. On March 15th several awareness meetings and the #coloriaMOcidililla social campaign
There are almost two hundred boys and girls among them 12 and 35 years old who in 2023 entered the path of the USL Company for i Eating disorders (ADC) a diagnostic, therapeutic and healthcare path that makes use of three specialist clinics in Modena (where there is also a day center with assisted meals), Mirandola and Sassuolo and a team including psychologists, internal medicine doctors-nutritionists, psychiatrists, child neuropsychiatrists, nurses, dieticians and psychiatric rehabilitation technicians.
In the National Lilac Bow Day dedicated to eating disorders, which is celebrated every year on March 15, the Modena Local Health Authority wants to once again turn the spotlight on pathologies such as anorexia and bulimia which are increasingly widespread, especially among young women. Since 2013, the Local Health Authority has offered a specialized path which in recent years has been enriched with artistic activities in collaboration with local associations and bodies – cooking workshops with chefs and music therapy experiences – projects which are fully part of the rehabilitation paths with the aim of stimulating new sensory experiences related to food.
Roberta Covezzi
Between new admissions and patients already followed, (the process lasts approximately 2 years) to date the Modena Local Health Authority has handled approximately 350 young people. From 2018 to today, new entries have constantly increased (we went from 88 in 2018 to 197 in 2023) and between the years 2020, 2021 and 2022 there was an exponential increase of 33% in cases, in line with regional data and national. It should be underlined that during the Covid-19 pandemic the program never stopped, the meetings took place with video calls and phone calls and also in person with local teams.
“In recent years we have witnessed an acceleration of a trend that was already present pre-pandemic – he declares Roberta Covezzi psychiatrist responsible for the eating disorders program of the Local Health Authority – not only have the numbers of girls taken into care increased but also the severity of their psychophysical condition with the presence of comorbidities, i.e. the co-presence of eating disorders and other symptoms such as dissociative symptoms, impulse dyscontrol and self-harm. Since ours is a territorial path with clinics, we were able to continue the therapies even in the midst of the Covid pandemic and even today this widespread presence in the territory allows us to create the conditions for effective rehabilitation in the context of life. The Local Health Authority’s path is not only based on care but also on supporting the healing of girls by offering them social experiences”
For 2024, the artistic projects successfully launched in recent years by the Day Center for Eating Disorders in Modena will continue. This year too, the girls followed by the Center will participate in the rehabilitation process psychonutritional in the kitchen of the L’Erba del Re restaurant in Modena with its chef and owner Luca Marchini. In agreement with the ASL Marchini has studied an out of the ordinary ‘cooking class’: a sensory game based on the use of some simple products to prepare in order to make their use pleasant while working on aromas and textureson observation and tactility for a new approach to food.
It also continues “Feeding on music”, a music therapy project financed by the Cassa di Risparmio di Modena Foundation and co-planned with the Briciole ODV associations, Euphonia ETS and Nordoff Robbins Italia. The project includes music therapy courses aimed not only at patients and their families, but also at healthcare professionals and volunteers who work within the DCA programme.
LILAC RIBBON DAY 2024, THE INITIATIVES
With the hashtag #coloriaMOcidililla This year the Local Health Authority launched a social awareness initiative on eating disorders: around a thousand lilac bows were distributed to be worn and immortalized in a selfie posted on social media with the hashtag that identifies the slogan. The most significant photos will be shared by the Local Health Authority on its social profiles. On the morning of March 14th the lilac bow was also delivered by Roberta Covezzi to the health director of the ASL Romana Bacchi.
Always the March 14 at the Florim Gallery in Fiorano, at 7 pm, the meeting ‘Eating disorders in the age of social media’ was organized by ASL Modena, Sassuolo spa hospital, with speakers from Roberta Covezzi, head of the Eating Disorders Program (DCA) of Ausl, Silvia Bellei dietitian of the DCA Program and Marcella Camellini doctor of the cardiology operational unit of the Sassuolo spa hospital.
On Lilac Bow Day, the March 15Ausl organized three events in Finale Emilia, Modena and Pavullo: a Finaleat 8.30 at the Nuovo Cinema Corso, the specialists meet the students of the Morandi high school to talk about eating disorders, Modena at 2.30 pm in the Euphonia music room, meeting ‘Free reflections on eating disorders’ with readings on the topic while at Pavullo at 6pm in the council room of the mountain community the meeting ‘Eating art’, readings and music on the theme. Also in Pavullo, the students of the Montecuccoli middle school created purple mandalas, the symbolic color of awareness towards eating disorders.
Last update: March 15, 2024