Addressing Eating Disorders through Social Connection: The REConnectED Programme

Eating disorders (EDs) are an urgent public health crisis in the UK, affecting 1.25 million people and carrying the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. The total cost to the UK economy (encompassing healthcare costs, productivity loss, and social care costs) was estimated at £9.4 billion in 2020. Despite the severity of these conditions, treatment outcomes remain poor: up to 41% of people with EDs relapse within two years following discharge from clinical treatment, with the highest risk occurring within the first year. A key reason for this is that standard care focuses on medical stabilisation and symptom reduction, while neglecting the social and psychological dimensions of recovery. Yet growing evidence indicates that long term recovery depends not only on improvements in physical health but also on enhanced social functioning and a change in self-perception – specifically, moving away from an identity centred on illness. REConnectED is a novel, peer-supported online group intervention designed to address this critical gap in ED care. Grounded in the Social Identity Approach to Health, the intervention supports participants in rebuilding social connections, developing recovery-compatible identities, and reducing isolation. It is designed to complement – not replace – standard care and is particularly suited to the high-risk post-discharge period when relapse likelihood is greatest. This feasibility study represents a high-risk, early-stage development step by taking a novel approach in a clinically complex, high mortality population. The study will focus on three delivery sites: one NHS Trust and two voluntary sector organisations (one in England and one in the Republic of Ireland). The primary objective is to assess the feasibility of delivering the REConnectED intervention in NHS and voluntary-sector settings. This includes participant recruitment and retention, delivery by trained peer facilitators, participant engagement and session attendance, acceptability of the intervention to participants and facilitators, and feasibility of data collection procedures. Findings will address key uncertainties that must be resolved before further development is possible. If feasibility is demonstrated, REConnectED could ultimately be scaled to support the estimated 7,000 adults discharged annually from approximately 73 community ED services across the UK. By incorporating peer support as a delivery mode and reducing relapse and readmission rates, REConnectED has the potential to address an unmet need at a scale and to alleviate pressure on overstretched services. The inclusion of an Irish delivery site provides early insight into international applicability and strengthens the case for future scale-up.