Recent Events
Dixon School of Nursing
Girls Conference in Harrisburg
Girl Scouts Conference
ParentTalk
NEDA Week
Webinar on Eating Disorders
Upcoming Events
A Chance to Heal in the News
A Chance to Heal in the Community
Legislative Action
A Chance to Heal Welcomes
Annual Report
Media Literacy Special Feature
Good Foods, Bad Foods Special Feature
A Chance to Heal has been focused on implementing preventative educational programs. In the past three months, we have led over 20 workshops for middle and high school students, college students, parents, and healthcare providers. Below are some highlights of those workshops.
Dr. Jane Shure, PhD and Molly Kellogg, RD, LCSW led workshops for nursing students on signs, symptoms and early diagnosis of eating disorders. The students reported that they now have a more comprehensive understanding of the topic and feel better prepared to work with patients who have or are at a risk for developing an eating disorder.
NHS Human Services hosted a conference in Harrisburg for 75 girls between the ages of 6 and 18, most of whom had been through foster care or residential treatment. Sophie Dornstreich, MSW led three interactive sessions on body image and media literacy.
Media Literacy was the topic of discussion for Lonnie Beer as she presented four workshops at the Girl Scouts Young Women's Conference. Lonnie's talk focused on the history of famous women through time to illustrate that the "ideal" body changes. She used a power point developed by Jane Shure and Beth Weinstock of SelfMatters.org.
One workshop participant commented, "I liked seeing the comparison between what used to be the ideal body image with today because it proved that we have created such a distorted reality for ourselves."
Our ParentTalk program has become a major initiative of 2007-2008. Thank you to Pam and Joe Yohlin, Martha and Duncan Pitcairn, Leigh and Brian Filippini, David and Ruth Steinman and Starr Osborne for generously opening their homes for these conversational workshops on how to prevent eating disorders. Upcoming ParentTalk programs include workshops at schools, parenting centers, and supporter's homes. Please email us if you are interested in attending or hosting an event. Thank you to Beth Weinstock, PhD, Jane Shure, PhD, and Harin Feibish, LCSW for facilitating these lively and engaging discussions.
This Year's Theme: Be comfortable in your genes. Wear jeans that fit the TRUE you.
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is an important time to raise awareness about the societal factors that contribute to eating disorders. A Chance to Heal chose to focus on Media Literacy for this year's NEDA Week (see article on media literacy).
In addition, Eileen Fisher of Ardmore and King of Prussia offered 10% off jeans to all customers bringing in a gently used pair of jeans to give to charity. A Chance to Heal and Eileen Fisher encourage you to give away clothes that no longer fit and find clothes that fit the TRUE you.
ACTH participated in a live "webinar" about eating disorders and body image issues sponsored by Campus Outreach Services, a national college education program. Board member Kathy Benn represented ACTH by speaking to students and parents across the country on March 3, 2008.
Save May 8, 2008 for an evening of celebration with A Chance to Heal in the breathtaking setting of Ligne Roset of Manayunk, an international furniture distribution company. This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce your friends and colleagues to A Chance to Heal, learn more about our innovative programming, and especially, to celebrate what we have all created together. Become a sponsor! You will receive tickets to the event and recognition in our program for your commitment to A Chance to Heal.
Details available online.
Dr. Roz Kaplan, Dr. David Steinman, and Dr. Jane Shure will teach "Medical Complications of Eating Disorders" to healthcare professionals at Chestnut Hill Hospital this May and Bryn Mawr Hospital in October. To schedule medical education for doctors, nurses, medical and nursing students or other healthcare providers, please email us.
With funds received through a directed grant, ACTH is currently working with The Burd Group, an industry leader in non profit planning. Led by Nancy Burd, we will be actively forging a visionary plan for A Chance to Heal over the next six months. Committee members include: Leigh Filippini, Joanna Berwind, Ivy Silver, Michael McTigue, Catherine Murphy, and David Steinman.
Help us by participating in a special panel to review and discuss A Chance to Heal programming this spring. Email ACTH for time and location.
New Morning (Hallmark Channel) | December 17, 2007
Junior Advisory Board interviewed about A Chance to Heal
A Chance to Heal participated in this year's Martin Luther King Wellness Fair at Germantown High School, at a Leadership Philadelphia event in Center City and a Jefferson Hospital in Center City. Two more wellness fairs are scheduled this year at Penn State Abington Campus and the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn.
Mental Health Parity remains a main focus on 2008. HR4848, which extends the 1996 legislation restricting financial limits on mental health care for one additional year, was passed in the House and is headed to the Senate for a vote. HR1424 which is a much more comprehensive mental health parity bill was passed in the house and is now headed to a conference committee along with the senate version of the bill. Call your representatives, senators, and the President and ask them to act quickly to pass Mental Health Parity.
The Eating Disorders Coalition, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), and Mental Health America continue to lobby for mental health legislation. Please go to their websites for email updates on the latest bills and budget amendments.
Amanda Layton to the board. Amanda is an associate attorney in the Employee Benefits Practice Group at WolfBlock in Philadelphia. She is an elected member of the Burlington County Republican Committee and a member of the Women in the Profession Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
Sharon Gallagher as a new board member. Sharon is co-founding partner of Sage Communications Partners, a strategic communications firm for nonprofits, foundations and for-profits that support issues or causes. Sharon is a former public affairs officer of The Pew Charitable Trust and is currently a board member of Fleisher Art Memorial and marketing committee volunteer for Alex's Lemonade Stand and Project HOME.
Leigh Filippini as the co-chair of our educational committee and member of the Strategic Planning Committee. Leigh is a founding partner of Concord Search Group and lives with her husband Brian and three children in Chestnut Hill.
Thank you to the many individuals, foundations, and businesses that donated to A Chance to Heal in 2007! Your support is essential for us to continue our mission to prevent eating disorders through education and advocacy.
Please consider making a tax deductible donation to A Chance to Heal to help fund our programming and continue our mission. You can donate online or send a check to PO Box 2342 | Jenkintown PA 19046.
At some point today, your hands will probably touch no fewer than five forms of media; maybe you'll watch TV, surf the internet, listen to a radio or your iPod, read a newspaper, or watch a movie. You may send a text message, reply to an email, download a new song, edit photos from a recent party, or grab your video camera on your way to a family gathering. But when was the last time you thought about your media consumption? (And I don't mean pondering when the next episode of Lost will air.)
Media Literacy is the act of asking questions about the media we consume. It is most often defined as a series of competencies, including the ability to ACCESS, ANALYZE, EVALUATE and COMMUNICATE information in a variety of forms. Media Literacy isn't about TV bashing or demanding that you tune out or turn off your media. It's about developing the skills of critical inquiry necessary in a world loaded with media messages.
Key Questions of Media Literacy:
Although these skills are vitally important to all of us, they hold particular importance for the youngest of us. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the typical American child spends more than 38 hours a week as a "media consumer" in a home that averages 3 TVs, 3 tape players, 3 radios, 2 VCRs, 2 CD players, a video game player and a computer, as well as newspapers, magazines and comic books. Children are less likely to live in a home with just one television than in a house with five or more. Children, depending on their age, may also be developmentally less able to tell the difference between a persuasive message (that's trying to sell them something) and an informational message. And of course, even informational messages have a point of view.
Of great concern to media literacy advocates, is the lack of media literacy education in our schools. What does it mean to be "literate" in the 21st century? Schools teach the literacy skills of reading and writing because those were the communication tools of the 19th and 20th centuries. But today, those literacy skills must be broadened to include all forms of communication. In his book Screen-agers: Lessons in Chaos from Digital Kids, Douglas Rushkoff says, "Young people inhabit a landscape where meaning is made online and onscreen. For today's screen-agers, media literacy is the prerequisite to independent thinking, autonomous action, and human agency."
The National Association for Media Literacy Education recently released the Core Principles of Media Literacy Education; a clearly articulated set of standards detailing what media literacy is and how those standards are put into practice.
Core Principles of Media Literacy Education
An easy way to begin improving your own media literacy skills is to ask one of the Five Questions of Media Literacy. Who is the author of this message? This TV show? This article? How is a point of view constructed? What values are communicated, either in writing or visually? Visual imagery is where the issue of representation comes into play. While it has not been proven that persistent viewing of consistent messages or visuals can lead us to act in specific ways, many research studies have affirmed that this persistent viewing can impact our view of what is "normal". Our acceptance of a particular body shape or image of beauty is heavily influenced by what we see in the media we consume. But, as critical, media literate consumers we can develop the ability to look beyond those messages or visuals. We can reflect on who benefits from those messages and explore the ways in which the need to make money impacts the messages that get made…and those that do not.
Think media's influence affects others...but not you? Think you're already a media literate consumer, too smart to be swayed by those media messages? Visit the Brand Awareness Test website (see "RESOURCES") and take the "logo test". When you finish laughing, take a look at your grocery list or in your refrigerator and see how many of those items you've purchased. Today's information and entertainment technologies communicate to us through a powerful combination or words, images and sounds. Media literacy is a skill that can help us navigate those complex waters.
National Association for Media Literacy Education
Media Education Lab: Temple University
My Pop Studio
Company Logo Quiz
Retail Alphabet Game
Kids Corner (See Sherri's Podcasts - suitable for young children)
Sherri Hope Culver directs the Media Education Lab at Temple University and serves on the faculty in the Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media. She is on the Board of the National Association for Media Literacy Education and on the Advisory Board of A Chance to Heal. Sherri has over 25 years experience in the media field, as a producer, senior executive, and management consultant. She has worked with PBS Kids Sprout, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, WYBE-TV, NJN Public Television and numerous public television stations across the country. She is author of the book, The Television and Video Survival Guide. You can reach Sherri at shculver(at)temple.edu.
By Flavia Herzog, MA, RD, LDN, Education Committee Member
Do you classify foods as "Good" and "Bad"? If you do, you are not alone. Many people who are concerned with their weight and have dieted put foods into two categories: the foods that they are "allowed" to eat (the "Good" foods) and the foods they must avoid (the "Bad" foods).
Years of dieting have trained you to do this. The problem is that many diets have conflicting classifications, and you ultimately end up with a very long list of "Bad", forbidden foods. This can leave you with very few enjoyable, delicious, satisfying foods to choose from on a daily basis and can serve as the underlying factor in what sabotages your relationship with food and your ability to achieve and maintain a healthful weight.
Even when not officially dieting, you may still often adhere to these classifications because they have become so ingrained in you. You may have come to associate the "Bad" foods with weakness and failure, and they make you feel that you are somehow "Bad" for eating them.
Overcoming this obstacle is essential when trying to develop a healthy relationship with food-a relationship that will decrease your obsessive thoughts about food and put you on the road to your healthful, natural, lean weight. I have spent hundreds of hours over the past 6 years helping people of all ages to retrain themselves to consider all foods allowable.
If you feed your body what it craves and what it needs, it will be satisfied and you will not continue searching for something else to eat. If, on the other hand, you deprive it OR feel guilty about giving into that craving you can end up over-consuming calories and gaining weight. To help you understand and correct your relationship with food, I would like to share with you some of the most common scenarios that I see and hear about.
Scenario 1
You are a little hungry and you really want Oreos but they are "Bad" so you have baby carrots. The carrots don't satisfy you so you have a handful of pretzels. Still not feeling satisfied, you eat some nuts. You are now no longer physically hungry but still want the Oreos. You finally give in and eat the Oreos. If you had allowed yourself to have the Oreos in the first place you would have saved yourself the extra calories from the carrots, pretzels and nuts. If you do not give into the Oreos, you will probably feel frustrated and annoyed for the rest of the day/night because you can't stop thinking about them.
Scenario 2
Everyday you have non-fat yogurt for breakfast, a dry turkey sandwich with a piece of fruit for lunch, celery sticks for snack and baked chicken and steamed vegetables for dinner. You do not think you are hungry at the end of the day, but you can't stop thinking about food. Your body's physical need for calories may have been met but your brain and taste buds are left wanting and waiting for something that tastes good, something new and different and preferably with a little fat. If you only allow yourself certain foods, you take a lot of the enjoyment out of eating and end up feeling deprived and restless and constantly thinking about food.
Scenario 3
You are at a party and have a piece of homemade double layer chocolate cake even though you know that you are not "allowed" to have it. You feel like a failure for being so weak and use food to make yourself feel better. This may continue for a few days until you find your "resolve" and begin to restrict the amount and type of food you allow yourself. Restricting your intake leaves you physically hungry, which makes it very likely that you will overeat to compensate.
Some things to remember:
You can stop thinking of food as the enemy and start enjoying it again! Meals can become pleasurable and nourishing, not guilt producing. And it is possible to learn how to resist analyzing and debating over every morsel of food you put into your mouth. We all have to TRUST our bodies, listen and come to read it's signals for what IT wants. It is time to create new concepts that support nurturing a compassionate relationship with yourself and a healthful relationship to ALL foods.
