Virtual Reality café for people with eating disorders
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A feasibility study of a Virtual Reality café for people with eating disorders
IRAS ID
362410
Contact name
Helen Bould
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that often begin in adolescence or early adulthood. Many people with eating disorders find social eating - e.g. going to cafés or restaurants - challenging. This can affect their quality of life and make recovery more difficult.
This study will test whether it is possible to offer a new kind of treatment to help people with eating disorders: a Virtual Reality (VR) café experience. In this VR café, participants can practice situations that they find difficult, such as ordering food or dealing with social interactions, in a safe and controlled environment. They will be supported during these sessions by trained clinicians or members of the NHS research team within their local mental health NHS Trust who have experience of working in mental health. A delegation log will be set up, with all members of the research team and their activities outlined.
The study includes a feasibility trial and a qualitative sub-study.
For the feasibility trial, up to 30 young people aged 14-25 who are currently receiving NHS treatment for an eating disorder will take part. Each participant will be offered up to six 1-hour VR café sessions alongside their usual care. VR café sessions will be delivered either in the building in which the participant usually sees their eating disorder team, or at their NHS mental health Trust research base. We will collect information about how many people agree to take part, how many complete the sessions, and how useful they find the intervention.
For the qualitative sub-study, we will interview a proportion of participants, parents, decliners and clinicians to improve the intervention and plan future studies.Our aim is to find out whether the VR cafe is feasible and acceptable to deliver in NHS services, and whether it could be tested in a larger trial in the future.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
25/WS/0200
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jan 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion