Research
At Student Minds we work hard to research and tackle the inequalities, barriers and knowledge gaps that exist in student mental health. Join us as we learn more to create healthy student communities across the UK:
Eating disorders support for students
We’re undertaking a groundbreaking project to understand the provision of support for students with eating disorders across the UK, make national recommendations and identify possible new solutions.
Approximately 1 in 10 students may experience an eating disorder (1). Eating disorders are often misunderstood but can impact anyone – regardless of age or gender – and can have a huge impact on a young person’s life. Eating disorders involve a range of emotional and psychological challenges and commonly occur alongside psychological problems, such as those related to anxiety or depression. While an eating disorder can have a severe impact on a student’s quality of life, with the right help students can and do recover from eating disorders. We’ve met hundreds of incredible students that have done just that.
In recent years we have heard of substantial challenges experienced by students in ensuring quick access to specialist eating disorders care. Nationally, it is thought there may be gaps in specialist support for students experiencing eating disorders and there are reports of students being turned away from help due to increasingly limiting ‘thresholds’ for statutory services. However, we don’t currently have a comprehensive view of what this looks like.
We need to undertake research and speak with students and professionals to truly understand the picture. That’s why we are working in partnership with academic partner King’s College London (KCL), specialist eating disorders charity First Steps ED, and a wider coalition of additional academic and charity partners to understand how to best support students experiencing eating difficulties in the academic environment. We will map national provision with our expert Eating Disorders advisory group and the help of university partners, conduct interviews with students, and undertake data analysis from the First Steps ED, Eating Disorders In Student Services (EDISS). The key output of this project will be an easy to use report for the Higher Education and health sectors summarising all of our findings and making clear recommendations to help improve the support avaliable for students with eating disorders.
The success of this project, however, will be completely dependent on identifying the student services staff, professionals and students to participate. If you’d like to engage with this project we need you to express your interest by 19th January 2020.
We hope you’ll join us on this important project to change thousands of people’s lives and prevent so many students from falling through the gaps and the grip of eating difficulties.
Approximately 1 in 10 students may experience an eating disorder (1). Eating disorders are often misunderstood but can impact anyone – regardless of age or gender – and can have a huge impact on a young person’s life. Eating disorders involve a range of emotional and psychological challenges and commonly occur alongside psychological problems, such as those related to anxiety or depression. While an eating disorder can have a severe impact on a student’s quality of life, with the right help students can and do recover from eating disorders. We’ve met hundreds of incredible students that have done just that.
In recent years we have heard of substantial challenges experienced by students in ensuring quick access to specialist eating disorders care. Nationally, it is thought there may be gaps in specialist support for students experiencing eating disorders and there are reports of students being turned away from help due to increasingly limiting ‘thresholds’ for statutory services. However, we don’t currently have a comprehensive view of what this looks like.
We need to undertake research and speak with students and professionals to truly understand the picture. That’s why we are working in partnership with academic partner King’s College London (KCL), specialist eating disorders charity First Steps ED, and a wider coalition of additional academic and charity partners to understand how to best support students experiencing eating difficulties in the academic environment. We will map national provision with our expert Eating Disorders advisory group and the help of university partners, conduct interviews with students, and undertake data analysis from the First Steps ED, Eating Disorders In Student Services (EDISS). The key output of this project will be an easy to use report for the Higher Education and health sectors summarising all of our findings and making clear recommendations to help improve the support avaliable for students with eating disorders.
The success of this project, however, will be completely dependent on identifying the student services staff, professionals and students to participate. If you’d like to engage with this project we need you to express your interest by 19th January 2020.
We hope you’ll join us on this important project to change thousands of people’s lives and prevent so many students from falling through the gaps and the grip of eating difficulties.
(1) More than 1 in 10 young people may experience an eating disorder. References: Stice, Marti & Rohde, 2013, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122, 445-457; Eisenberg et al. (2011), J American College Health, 59, 700-707.
Further information:
Are you a student with experience of eating difficulties who wants to be involved?
Thank you for reading about this project. We know that it’s not easy to hear that many fellow students are experiencing difficulties. We will be running interviews and an online survey with current university students between January and July 2020. This work will aim to understand students’ personal experience of disordered eating, eating disorders and compulsive exercise support at their university.
You will be eligible to take part in this study if you are a current university student and have current or previous experience of an eating disorder (you do not require a formal diagnosis and there will be no formal screening - we are interested to hear from any student who feels that they have struggled with their eating) or are a student who has been supporting friends who fit the inclusion criteria.
There are two main ways you will be able to join in with this project, you can choose to be:
Please select whichever you feel most comfortable with. This project is not directly linked to the universities involved and participation, advertised by the universities, remains entirely voluntary. You can also opt out at any time. If you’re interested in taking part, you can speak directly in confidence with the research team.
You will be eligible to take part in this study if you are a current university student and have current or previous experience of an eating disorder (you do not require a formal diagnosis and there will be no formal screening - we are interested to hear from any student who feels that they have struggled with their eating) or are a student who has been supporting friends who fit the inclusion criteria.
There are two main ways you will be able to join in with this project, you can choose to be:
- interviewed by a researcher about your experiences (a member of our team will come back to you early 2020 to arrange your interview)
- complete an online survey
Please select whichever you feel most comfortable with. This project is not directly linked to the universities involved and participation, advertised by the universities, remains entirely voluntary. You can also opt out at any time. If you’re interested in taking part, you can speak directly in confidence with the research team.
Are you a university Head of Student Services or support staff member interested in being involved?
We understand that professionals are working very hard to try and get students to the right care at the right time, and that it can be very frustrating and disheartening when this doesn’t go to plan. We really need your help to make this project a success. Without your support we will be unable to recruit participants in the studies, or to make appropriate recommendations that will ultimately help improve the local pathways available across the UK.
If you would like to be involved please email our lead researcher on nicola.byrom@kcl.ac.uk. You can support this study in a couple of ways:
If you would like to be involved please email our lead researcher on nicola.byrom@kcl.ac.uk. You can support this study in a couple of ways:
- Share some short information advertising the study via your university’s website and social media, through academic school email lists and virtual learning environment forums (E.g. Blackboard, moodle). We aim to recruit a minimum of 10 students from each university to take part in an interview, and the more students we can recruit the greater impact this work can have right across the UK.
- We will also invite a selection of staff that support with the recruitment of participants to contribute to a mapping exercise whereby we will try to build up a picture of how support provision looks for eating disorders across the UK.
Are you a health professional in the NHS such as a GP or specialist in eating disorders treatment?
This study is largely focused on understanding students’ experiences, however we are keen to hear from NHS clinicians and professionals with experiences and expertise to share. We will invite a selection of professionals to contribute to a mapping exercise whereby we will try to build up a picture of how support provision looks for eating disorders across the UK. If you are able to contribute information to this mapping exercise please email our lead researcher on nicola.byrom@kcl.ac.uk.
Who is involved in this research project and how is it funded?
We’re delighted to be working in collaboration with a range of organisations on this project. An eating disorder expert advisory group bringing together experts from a range of charities, academic departments and services will be announced shortly. Having provided peer support for students with eating difficulties for several years, Student Minds are leading this project, delivering the research through our partners at King’s College, London. We will be working in partnership with First Steps ED, a charity that was commissioned to deliver one of the first city-wide NHS specialist eating disorders services for students in the two Nottingham Universities which has gone on to be provided in a number of other East Midlands Universities and Colleges. Representatives from both charities met to explore the potential to collaborate thanks to introductions through the King’s Fund and GSK charity award scheme.
We would like to thank GSK for a donation of £25,000 to undertake this project. At Student Minds across all of our work our funders do not have any input into the research process or recommendations made.
We would like to thank GSK for a donation of £25,000 to undertake this project. At Student Minds across all of our work our funders do not have any input into the research process or recommendations made.
How will this study be ethically approved?
Student Minds are leading this project, delivering the research through our partners at Kings College London. Two MSc students at King's College London will be supervised by Dr Nicola Byrom between January and July 2020 to deliver the interviews for this project. Please download the KCL research participation information sheet, which has been approved by the KCL ethics review panel.
How will you ensure that this leads to meaningful change and improvements?
We are undertaking this project to achieve tangible improvements for students. The engagement of students and professionals throughout will be key to achieving this change. We wouldn’t be doing this project unless we were fully committed to seeing this through into tangible changes. That is why we’ve designed this project in a way that it will go beyond only telling us the problems, but will also identify potential solutions with current students. We will also interview and bring together top experts in Eating Disorders and publish a report for the Higher Education and Health sectors about the findings. This report will be presented to representatives at NHS England and other bodies with key roles in influencing the commissioning of eating disorders services across the UK. Student Minds has a successful track record in similar projects, find out more about our impact.
Where can I find support for myself or someone else?
Visit here for information and resources, and recommendations on support available. Also find out how to support a friend with an Eating Disorder and read students' experiences of eating difficulties at university on the Student Minds Blog.