Health behaviours in people with mental illness: Prevalence, interest in change, acceptability of care
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Bartlem, K., Bailey, J., Metse, A.
ORCID: 0000-0002-8641-1024, Wye, P., Wiggers, J., Clancy, R. and Bowman, J.
(2016)
Health behaviours in people with mental illness: Prevalence, interest in change, acceptability of care.
European Journal of Public Health, 26
(suppl_1).
p. 10.
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Abstract
Background
People who have a mental illness experience a disproportionately high burden of chronic disease, contributed substantially to by an increased engagement in chronic disease health risk behaviours. Mental health clinicians report a perception of client disinterest in addressing their health behaviours as a barrier to providing risk reduction care. In relation to four health risk behaviours (tobacco smoking, hazardous alcohol consumption, inadequate nutrition and physical inactivity), this paper examines the health behaviour characteristics, interest in change, and acceptability of receiving risk reduction care from mental health service providers among mental health consumers.
Methods
Two surveys were undertaken within one local health district Australia: one amongst 558 clients of community mental health services, and one amongst 2,075 inpatients from psychiatric units.
Results
Risk prevalence was high for all behaviours (35-95%). A substantial proportion of participants (32-71%) were interested in improving their health risk behaviours, and between 80% and 97% reported that it would be acceptable to receive risk reduction care during contact with their mental health service.
Conclusions
Clients of community mental health and inpatient psychiatric services report a high level of interest in improving their health risk behaviours, and in receiving risk reduction care from their mental health service. These findings reinforce the need and the opportunity for mental health services to address health risk behaviours with their clients.
Key messages:
- People with a mental illness report high levels of interest in improving health risk behaviours
- People with a mental illness report the provision of health behaviour care by mental health services to be acceptable
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association |
| Copyright: | © The Author 2016 |
| URI: | http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/57792 |
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