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Developing a peer-based healthy lifestyle program for people with serious mental illness in supportive housing

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Translational Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Overweight and obesity disproportionally impact people with serious mental illness (SMI). Healthy lifestyle interventions can improve the health of people with SMI but may need to be adapted for this population. The aims of this study were: to (1) examine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the Peer-based Group Lifestyle Balance (PGLB) intervention and (2) describe intervention adaptations for people with SMI in supportive housing. Peer specialists and social workers co-facilitated 12 weekly PGLB sessions for 14 supportive housing clients. We conducted structured interviews and collected qualitative data through field notes and two focus groups. Frequencies and measures of central tendencies were used to describe participant characteristics and PGLB feasibility and acceptability measures. Qualitative data was analyzed using directed content analysis. Participants on average attended 8 of 12 sessions, and reported that services were satisfactory and helpful. Intervention adaptations, ongoing throughout the study, focused on adding peer-specialists as co-facilitators, increasing individualized support and developing strategies to address socioeconomic barriers impacting participants’ ability to engage in healthy lifestyle changes. Study findings suggest that participants with SMI in supportive housing perceived PGLB as feasible and acceptable. Expanding the relevance and reach of peer-based healthy lifestyle interventions in community settings serving people with SMI requires careful adaptations to the socioeconomic realities of this population and the complexities of living with co-morbid health and mental health conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by pilot funds from the Columbia University Provost Office and a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH104574). The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors wish to thank all of the people who participated in this study and Paola Volquez for her assistance with this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Kathleen O’Hara M.S.W., Ana Stefancic Ph.D. & Leopoldo J. Cabassa Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Kathleen O’Hara M.S.W.
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  2. Ana Stefancic Ph.D.
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  3. Leopoldo J. Cabassa Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leopoldo J. Cabassa Ph.D..

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the Columbia University Institutional Review Board.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

The findings reported here have not been previously published nor is the manuscript being simultaneously submitted elsewhere. The authors have full control of all primary data and will agree to allow the journal to review de-identified data if requested.

Funding

This study was supported in part by pilot funds from the Columbia University Provost Office and a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH104574).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement on the welfare of animals

Not applicable since no animals were in involved this study.

Additional information

Implications

Policy: Healthy lifestyle intervention policies and programming should be responsive to cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic factors, as well as mental health concerns that may influence the engagement of people with SMI.

Research: The results of our pilot study suggest that future work should prioritize efforts to test the effectiveness of peer-based healthy lifestyle interventions that combine group and individual sessions, tailor and simplify self-monitoring strategies, and adapt intervention content and activities to the socioeconomic realities of people with SMI.

Practice: Healthy lifestyle interventions represent a promising component of a holistic approach to improve the physical health of people with SMI.

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O’Hara, K., Stefancic, A. & Cabassa, L.J. Developing a peer-based healthy lifestyle program for people with serious mental illness in supportive housing. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 7, 793–803 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0457-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0457-x

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