Objective: Healthy lifestyle interventions addressing obesity in people with serious mental illness (SMI) lead to modest weight losses that tend not to be sustained over time. By augmenting lifestyle interventions with family and peer support targeting health behavior change, greater weight loss might be obtained and sustained in this population. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of increasing support from family and friends to enhance a healthy lifestyle intervention (In SHAPE) adapted for individuals with SMI.

Method: A sample of 7 dyads (14 total participants) participated in this small-scale open-feasibility trial of social support strategies to enhance health promotion. Weekly 1-hour health coaching sessions were augmented by sessions designed to increase support for healthy eating and exercise through active learning and didactic instruction. Feasibility was assessed by program participation and by examining participants' satisfaction and exploring suggestions for improving the model post-intervention.

Results: The majority of participants (57%) nominated a friend, followed by adult child-parent pairs (28%) and sibling pairs (14%) to participate as support partners in the study. All participant-partner dyads (100%) completed 12 sessions within 16 weeks. Participants reported high satisfaction and perceived benefits from the program. Recommend modifications by the dyads included more interactive sessions, a combination of group and dyadic sessions, and hands-on cooking classes.

Conclusions: This formative research showed that the study design is feasible and that the intervention can facilitate social support for health behavior change in people with SMI. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5291178PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/686486DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

social support
12
healthy lifestyle
12
enhance healthy
8
lifestyle intervention
8
serious mental
8
mental illness
8
lifestyle interventions
8
health behavior
8
behavior change
8
support
7

Similar Publications

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the prevalence and factors related to depression and anxiety among individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the UK, revealing that significant portions experience these mental health issues.
  • Participants completed an online survey that assessed mental health history and treatment preferences, finding that over half had a history of diagnosed depression and many preferred in-person support.
  • The results indicated that certain demographics, including age and gender, as well as factors like self-efficacy and current treatment, were significantly related to the levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, but differences in symptoms were not influenced by the kidney service centers’ location or size.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Lung cancer has the highest incidence and mortality rates globally, making effective post-surgical mental health support crucial due to associated challenges like anxiety and depression.
  • Traditional Chinese medicine shows promise in improving psychological well-being and physical symptoms after lung cancer surgery, but its effectiveness specifically for mental function recovery needs investigation.
  • The study will systematically review various databases for randomized controlled trials focusing on depression and anxiety after lung cancer surgery, assessing data quality and outcomes using established evaluation tools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the rapid availability of evidence to respond in a timely manner to the needs of practice settings and decision-makers in health and social services. Now that the pandemic is over, it is time to put in place actions to improve the capacity of systems to meet knowledge needs in a situation of crisis. The main objective of this project was thus to develop an action plan for the rapid syntheses of evidence in times of health crisis in Quebec (Canada).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Prediction of oral diseases in care dependent older people.

BMC Oral Health

January 2025

Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Nørre Allé 20, Copenhagen, 2200, Denmark.

Background: A large number of older people depend on others for help with their daily personal care, including oral health care. Nursing home and elder-care staff often face challenges identifying older people, who are exposed to or at an increased risk of oral diseases. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify risk factors that non-dental care staff can use to identify older people at risk of oral diseases and poor oral hygiene.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Preterm birth significantly impacts parents' mental health, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) can help them cope with this trauma, though research on PTG in this context is limited.
  • A study involving 160 parents in Shenzhen, China, found that most had low to medium PTG levels, with influences like older gestational age, higher Apgar scores, positive coping styles, and better social support correlating with higher PTG.
  • The findings highlight the importance of social support and effective coping mechanisms in fostering PTG among parents dealing with the challenges of having a preterm infant.
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!