Impact of Physical Activity on Serious Mental Illness Recovery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Impact of Community Physical Activity on the Recovery Journey of Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses – A Longitudinal Investigation
IRAS ID
349411
Contact name
Sreedevi Laxman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Chichester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
24MHSN349411, Lead NHS Site (Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust) Local Reference Number
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
This research aims to evaluate the programmes delivered by Sport in Mind, a sport and mental health charity that provides free weekly community-based physical activity (PA) for anyone experiencing mental health problems. At present, information about Sport in Mind sessions is available for patients with serious mental illness online as well as in NHS services. If patients wish to attend Sport in Mind, they complete an online sign up form and are invited to take part by the charity.
The focus of the research is on the recovery journey of individuals experiencing serious mental illnesses (SMI) which include disorders such as psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Individuals with SMI experience poor physical health including cardiovascular diseases (Quirk et al., 2020). Individuals with SMI are also likely to die 15 to 20 years earlier compared to the general population.
At present, there is limited research that provides a longitudinal understanding of community-based physical activity’s impact on the recovery journey of individuals with serious mental illness. Through a year long, longitudinal study, this research aims to evaluate the impact that community-based physical activity programmes delivered by Sport in Mind have on the physical and psychological health of participants. This study will consist of 2 cohorts-
Cohort A - To do this, this study will use qualitative interviews at three time points: when starting Sport in Mind sessions, 6 months and 12 months post starting sessions. At these time points, participants will also be asked to complete a questionnaire about health behaviours and health service utilisation. Further, the study will also request and collect NHS Healthcare Services Utilisation Data.
Cohort B - The study will recruit 20 participants who have accessed Sport in Mind sessions for more than 2 years. Timeline interviews will be conducted to understand the long-term impacts of community-based physical activity.
REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/PR/0172
Date of REC Opinion
25 Mar 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion