Towards inclusive care for longstanding eating disorders: A lived experience-informed, mixed-methods study of clinician perspectives and medical trauma

This research seeks to better understand how people living with longstanding or severe and enduring eating disorders (SEED/LSED) experience healthcare over time, including experiences of access, exclusion, stigma, and treatment-related trauma, as well as the conditions that support safety, dignity, and inclusion in care.

A particular focus of this phase of the research is understanding what trauma-informed and neuroaffirming care might look like for individuals with longstanding eating disorders, often alongside chronic illness and repeated interactions with healthcare systems. In addition to experiences of care, the study explores participants’ perspectives on:

- Qualities of care that promote psychological safety, respect, and trust

- Clinician approaches and relational practices that support dignity and collaboration

- System-level factors that enable more inclusive and responsive care

- Participants’ visions for how services could better support people living with longstanding eating disorders

Lived experience perspectives are central to this work and will contribute to improving understanding, informing clinician training, and shaping more inclusive, trauma-informed approaches to eating disorder care.