About KLIFAD

We are a group of researchers with diverse backgrounds and members of the public with an interest in shaping future research. We are determined to build sustainable partnerships with alcohol treatment services, to empower the delivery of high-quality research in alcohol use disorder. The partnership is a collaboration between several alcohol care and recovery services, including:

• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
• Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre (NDDC)
• Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)
• Nottingham Clinical Trial Unit (NCTU)
• The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP)
• Community drug and alcohol services: Change Grow Live (CGL) and Nottingham Recovery Network (NRN)
• University partners: University of Nottingham, University College London, University of Southampton, University of Warwick and University of Manchester
• Patient and Public Involvement members

We are ambitious to build strong trustworthy links with members of the public, experts in the field and people with lived experience of alcohol misuse, liver disease and addiction. Our focus is to improve the care and well-being of people suffering from alcohol addiction, develop novel behavioural interventions, reduce social stigma, and improve trust.

Our objectives are as follows

1. To develop a sustainable multiagency and multidisciplinary research partnership
2.  To identify diverse populations historically underserved by research activities
3. To share methodological expertise and upskill the research teams
4. To co-design and submit a high impact research proposals
5. To build the capacity and capabilities of participating sites to deliver the research studies
6. To create a digital library of alcohol recovery stories (ARS) in multiple formats, to create a safe online platform which participants can access remotely
7. To explore potential other applications of  alcohol lived experience in healthcare such as reducing social stigma, and improving trust & engagement 

Alcohol-related liver disease is a major preventable cause of liver disease. According to national data, in contrast to other modifiable diseases (diabetes, heart disease and stroke) where a reduction in the number of deaths has been observed, the deaths due to liver disease in the United Kingdom (UK) have risen by 400% over the last four decades. It is estimated every five to seven people out of ten with harmful alcohol use have co-existing mental health diagnoses and suffer from social stigma. These in turn increase the risk of death and result in poor engagement and lack of trust. 

Read more