Institutional policy changes aimed at addressing obesity among mental health clients.

Prev Chronic Dis

University of Alabama, Doster Hall 206, Box 870158, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0158, USA.

Published: May 2010

Background: People with mental illness often experience unique barriers to healthy eating and physical activity. For these clients, interventions should focus on changes in the immediate environment to change behaviors. The purpose of this project was to implement and evaluate policy changes that would limit calorie intake and increase calorie expenditure of clients receiving mental health services.

Context: This intervention was implemented in a rural mental health system in the southeastern United States. Clients live in small group homes, where they are served breakfast, dinner, and a snack, and attend outpatient day treatment programs, where they are served lunch and can purchase snacks from vending machines.

Methods: This intervention included institutional policy changes that altered menus and vending machine options and implemented group walking programs. Primary outcome measures were changes in clients' weight at 3 and 6 months after policy implementation.

Consequences: At the 3-month follow-up, the median weight loss for overweight/obese clients (n = 45) was 1.4 kg. The 33 overweight/obese clients who were still in the group homes at the 6-month follow-up either maintained or continued to lose weight.

Interpretation: Institutional policy changes aimed at improving dietary intake and physical activity levels among clients receiving mental health services can promote weight loss in overweight clients.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879995PMC

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

policy changes
16
mental health
16
institutional policy
12
changes aimed
8
clients
8
physical activity
8
clients receiving
8
receiving mental
8
group homes
8
weight loss
8

Similar Publications

Background: Collaborative Workspaces are rapidly growing and evolving across the world. Traditionally understood as an urban phenomenon, most research understands them as either 'entrepreneurial-led', as profit-driven and commercial spaces such as business incubators and accelerators, or 'community-led' as being bottom-up, not-for-profit ventures aimed at catering for the needs of their community. Recent years however have seen their diffusion beyond large urban agglomerations to small towns and villages, with their functions assumed to be more community-orientated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Asthma is the second leading cause of mortality among chronic respiratory illnesses. This study provided a comprehensive analysis of the burden of asthma.

Methods: Data on asthma were extracted from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aims: Common diseases between humans and animals are one of the health problems of countries, which requires targeted intervention. The intervention mapping model provides guidance for choosing the most appropriate methods and applications. Since one of the most important challenges in the endemic areas of Iran is the control of brucellosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The COVID-19 pandemic directly impacted well-being and healthcare delivery, but its indirect effects on health services utilization among pregnant women and new mothers remain less understood. Understanding how big events like pandemics impact health behaviors is essential for anticipating healthcare needs during future crises. This study examined how the perceived COVID-19 threat influenced health concerns and service utilization among 378 participants who were either pregnant or mothers of infants less than 12 months old, 18 years or older, and lived within a 50-mile radius of healthcare sites in the OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Consortium.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Work-family balance has emerged as one of the influencing factors for the physical and mental health of working mothers and their children.

Aims: The present study aimed to understand the experiences and perspectives of working mothers on maternity leave and return to work after childbirth. This cross-sectional survey was conducted in three major cities in southeastern Iran.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!