Embarking on New Terrain
Published by Feeding Matters on Dec 14, 2022
We are excited about all we have accomplished in 2022 and look forward to a year of continuing to advocate for children with pediatric feeding disorder (PFD) in 2023. As you have heard us share before, it is important to celebrate milestones and successes, so we bring you this list of accomplishments that we are proud of from this year.
- Hosted our 9th virtual International Pediatric Feeding Disorder Conference in April with over 1,200 individuals in over 30 countries in attendance. This year’s conference included an amazing keynote from Dr. Scott Berns and the first ever Shannon Goldwater Family Education Forum.
- Launched the PFD Alliance app, a space for families, healthcare professionals, and community members to connect around pediatric feeding disorder.
- Initiated our Arizona Grassroots Outreach, Education, and Support Initiative which allows us to go deeper into one of our target markets (Arizona) while also pursuing our national advocacy agenda.
- Began developing our new strategic plan with a focus on growing awareness of PFD to ensure this often-silent condition becomes a well-known name within the general public.
- Launched the Formula Shortage Resource Page to combat the growing need of our community to gain access to vetted information about formula during the shortage crisis. Many children with PFD need specialty formula and therefore this crisis especially impacted our families. We remain committed to ensuring families get the access they need to life saving nutrition.
- Featured in a national publications sharing Feeding Matters resources on the new diagnostic codes for PFD, including moms.com, lifehacker.com, and insider.com.
- Completed the first national and international look at which providers are treating PFD and their efficacy level. This is a first step in being able to influence best practices and build a higher quality cohort of treatment professionals. We are now embarking on two additional research projects including a long-term follow-up project on feeding treatment and several national focus group projects for families and professionals.
- Participated in the Patients and Providers for the Medical Nutrition Equity Act Coalition, which advocates at the federal government level to ensure families receive coverage for life-saving nutrition.
- Continued our grassroots outreach and growth by launching Community Roundtables to gather feeding-focused individuals to discuss how to grow awareness of PFD in local communities.
- Re-Launched the Family Assistance Program funding $10,000 to 4 families. One recipient said: “Thank you so much! This really means a lot to our entire family. It feels like coming up for a breath of air after being under water for a while. I can’t say this enough- THANK YOU!”
These accomplishments are exciting on the journey forward to create a world where children with PFD will thrive. While this list is a summary of success for which Feeding Matters is quite proud, what it doesn’t show is the immense amount of work that goes into making these occur. There is a team of individuals at Feeding Matters who dedicate their daily working lives to supporting families, educating professionals, and identifying system changes that will improve outcomes for children with PFD. But it is not only these passionate individuals who deserve recognition and accolades for these efforts. This list also encompasses the incredible community of volunteers, leaders, families, professionals, community members, donors, and advocates out there. Achievements as an advocacy organization are not done solo.
We are looking forward to 2023 to continue our efforts and specifically focus on:
- Quality content and support for families including webinars, and adapting our family support program to better include a trauma informed lens
- Educational offerings for professionals including webinars, infographics, and greater social media influence to reach more people
- Advocating about Early Intervention to include a better focus on feeding
- Advocating for more research around PFD – especially research that includes families and research within the community