National Institute of Health Research grant award to explore issues of ‘trust’ in treatment for eating disorders
By: Communications
Prof Su Holmes from the School of Art, Media and American Studies, has been awarded a National Institute of Health Grant (NIHR) of £150k via the Research for Patient Benefit Scheme.
Due to start in April 2024, the research, co-partnering with Dr Corinna Hackman at the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) aims to examine and address the difficulties of forming trusting relationships in inpatient treatment for eating disorders (EDs).
The Inpatient treatment for EDs can be lifesaving, but it is also often unsuccessful, with drop out and disengagement as high as 60%. Upon entry into inpatient treatment patients are subjected to intense monitoring and denied privacy (including being followed into the toilet and prevented from being alone), whilst punitive measures ( such as no phone, or initial access to family) can also be implemented. Although such practices are often shaped by safety mandates, they also speak to particular constructions of the ‘ED patient’ as manipulative and untrustworthy.
The ALLIANCE project will bring service-users and health professionals together in seeking to explore some of the challenges and problems involved in developed trusting relationships and the implications of these for the development of therapeutic relationships.
Taking place at two clinical sites (in Norwich and Leicester) and following qualitative research with both service-users and staff, the project will co-produce an animation which explores the mechanisms underlying the construction of trust/distrust in these contexts. In creating an animation which can be used as a reflective training aid, the aim is to intervene in and critique what are presented as ‘everyday’ and normalised practices within ED treatment in the pursuit of more compassionate and ethical approaches.
For more information please contact susan.holmes@uea.ac.uk
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