Developing Recommendations to Support Therapeutic Alliance in Eating Disorders Inpatient Treatment

The ALLIANCE study aims to understand and improve treatment relationships between staff and service users in inpatient eating disorder settings. It is NIHR funded and consists of 3 work packages (WP): WP1: Develop Programme Theory using realist literature review to identify how to effectively develop therapeutic alliance in inpatient treatment for Eating Disorders (ED), that maintains safety, whilst leading to improved treatment outcomes. WP1 consists of a literature review, using realist methods. Conducting this review will help us to understand existing evidence relating to treatment relationships in inpatient eating disorder setting. This WP is already underway. WP2: Test, expand and refine the theory via realist interviews with people who have lived experience of inpatient ED treatment and healthcare staff working in inpatient ED settings. Use the Programme Theory to develop actionable practice and policy recommendations to improve treatment outcomes, that can be operationalised (in a future study) into a complex intervention to improve alliance and treatment outcomes for ED. WP3: Codesign an animation (and supporting materials) with people with lived experience, to disseminate and communicate WP2 findings.

NCT Number	NCT06961032
Lead Sponsor	Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust Collaborators: Loughborough University, University of East Anglia
Conditions	Eating Disorders
Enrollment	30 participants
Start Date	2025-05
Primary Completion	2025-11 (estimated)
Study Completion	2025-11 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-05-07