Consumer involvement in the appraisal of treatments for people with eating disorders: a neglected area of research?

Recent British government initiatives have placed an increasing emphasis on the involvement of patients, carers and relatives in the evaluation of services. Such ‘consumer involvement’ raises several theoretical and methodological issues. Previous research in this area has been limited. The perceptions of people with eating disorders of the perceived efficacy of treatment have been described for a limited range of treatments, though there has been little standardization of methodology. There has been less assessment of the perceived availability of treatment services. The public's view of the acceptability of treatments has been described, again for a limited range of treatments. There is a need for fundamental research devising methods for determining the perceived quality of treatment amongst people with eating disorders, their carers and relatives, and for applied research describing how such information can be incorporated into clinical management and service planning.