Co-produced physical activity programme for empowerment and well-being
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The co-production of a physical activity programme for those with severe mental illness in a forensic clinic
IRAS ID
278988
Contact name
Gavin Breslin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ulster University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) participate in significantly less exercise (Soundy et al., 2015) than the general population. The symptoms of SMI and the side effects of antipsychotics can cause increased low self- esteem and mood, lowered motivation, increased fatigue (Hert et al., 2011; Rogers et al., 2019) and weight gain. Physical activity has been shown to improve cardiovascular disease (CVD) in SMI populations (Glowacki et al., 2019). For those with mental illness reductions in psychiatric symptoms and increased functioning can occur with 90 minutes per week of physical activity (Firth et al., 2015; Stubbs et al., 2018).
The environments in which these patients are placed in is critical for successful rehabilitation. Rogers et al. (2019) conducted a scoping research review and found that facilities in secure settings were incongruent with being physically active, due to available space, patients lacking motivation or required a member of staff to accompany them to a sports hall, gym, or open spaces in order to be active. Staff see activity as a low priority and feel they lack knowledge to allow physical activity to be programmed into care plans (Glowacki et al., 2019; Hennessy and Cocoman, 2018; Stanton et al., 2015)
In response to the challenges to be active for those with SMI and staff involvement, the current proposal is responding to the need to design a sustainable physical activity programme. To effectively achieve this within a secure setting we aim to co-produce an activity programme. Co-production involves researchers and stakeholders with lived experience to help develop a programme that is more relevant to the environment and participants. this increases the chances of the programme being effective and sustainable. Once designed this project will assess the effects of a physical activity programme (aerobic and resistance training) on well-being, motivation and weight reduction as well as assessing the long-term effects of the programme on those with SMI.REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
20/NI/0129
Date of REC Opinion
27 Oct 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion