Aims: Diabetes is two to three times more prevalent in people with severe mental illness, yet little is known about the challenges of managing both conditions from the perspectives of people living with the co-morbidity, their family members or healthcare staff. Our aim was to understand these challenges and to explore the circumstances that influence access to and receipt of diabetes care for people with severe mental illness. Methods: Framework analysis of qualitative semi-structured interviews with people with severe mental illness and diabetes, family members, and staff from UK primary care, mental health and diabetes services, selected using a maximum variation sampling strategy between April and December 2018. Results: In all, 39 adults with severe mental illness and diabetes (3 with type 1 diabetes and 36 with type 2 diabetes), nine family members and 30 healthcare staff participated. Five themes were identified: (a) Severe mental illness governs everyday life including diabetes management; (b) mood influences capacity and motivation for diabetes self-management; (c) cumulative burden of managing multiple physical conditions; (d) This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Editorial group: Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group. Publication status and date: New search for studies and content updated (conclusions changed), published in Issue 4, 2019.

Background: People with severe mental illnesses (SMI) have reduced life expectancy compared with the general population. Diabetes is a major contributor to this disparity with higher prevalence and poorer outcomes in people with SMI. Aim: To determine the impact of SMI on healthcare processes and outcomes for diabetes. Design and setting: Retrospective observational matched nested case-control study using patient records from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to Hospital Episode Statistics. Methods: We compared a range of healthcare processes (primary care consultations, physical health checks, metabolic measurements) and outcomes (prevalence and hospitalisation for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and mortality risk) for 2,192 people with SMI and type 2 diabetes (cases) with 7,773 people with diabetes alone (controls). Socio-demographics, comorbidity and medication prescription were covariates in regression models. Results: SMI was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (Hazard Ratio [HR]: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.60 to 2.30) and CVD-specific mortality (HR: 2.24; 1.55 to 3.25); higher physician consultation rates (Incidence Rate Ratio [IRR]: 1.15; 1.11 to 1.19); more frequent checks of blood pressure (IRR: 1.02; 1.00 to 1.05) and cholesterol (IRR: 1.04; 1.02 to 1.06); lower prevalence of angina (Odds Ratio [OR]: 0.67; 0.45 to 1.00); higher emergency admissions for angina (IRR: 1.53; 1.07 to 2.20) and lower elective admissions for ischaemic heart disease (IRR: 0.68; 0.51 to 0.92). Conclusion: Monitoring of metabolic measurements was comparable for people with diabetes with and without SMI. Increased mortality rates observed in SMI may be attributable to under-diagnosis of CVD and delays in treatment.

Background People with severe mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia, have higher rates of physical long-term conditions (LTCs), poorer health outcomes, and shorter life expectancy compared with the general population. Previous research exploring SMI and diabetes highlights that people with SMI experience barriers to self-management, a key component of care in long-term conditions; however, this has not been investigated in the context of other LTCs. The aim of this study was to explore the lived experience of co-existing SMI and LTCs for service users, carers, and healthcare professionals. Methods A qualitative study with people with SMI and LTCs, their carers, and healthcare professionals, using semi-structured interviews, focused observations, and focus groups across the UK. Forty-one interviews and five focus groups were conducted between December 2018 and April 2019. Transcripts were coded by two authors and analysed thematically. Results Three themes were identified, 1) the precarious nature of living with SMI, 2) the circularity of life with SMI and LTCs, and 3) the constellation of support for self-management. People with co-existing SMI and LTCs often experience substantial difficulties with self-management of their health due to the competing demands of their psychiatric symptoms and treatment, social circumstances, and access to support. Multiple long-term conditions add to the burden of self-management. Social support, alongside person-centred professional care, is a key facilitator for managing health. An integrated approach to both mental and physical healthcare was suggested to meet service user and carer needs. Conclusion The demands of living with SMI present a substantial barrier to self-management for multiple co-existing LTCs. It is important that people with SMI can access person-centred, tailored support for their LTCs that takes into consideration individual circumstances and priorities.

Background People living with severe mental illness (SMI) have a reduced life expectancy by around 15–20 years, in part due to higher rates of long-term conditions (LTCs) such as diabetes and heart disease. Evidence suggests that people with SMI experience difficulties managing their physical health. Little is known, however, about the barriers, facilitators and strategies for self-management of LTCs for people with SMI. Aim To systematically review and synthesise the qualitative evidence exploring facilitators, barriers and strategies for self-management of physical health in adults with SMI, both with and without long-term conditions. Methods CINAHL, Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science, HMIC, Medline, NICE Evidence and PsycInfo were searched to identify qualitative studies that explored barriers, facilitators and strategies for self-management in adults with SMI (with or without co-morbid LTCs). Articles were screened independently by two independent reviewers. Eligible studies were purposively sampled for synthesis according to the richness and relevance of data, and thematically synthesised. Results Seventy-four articles met the inclusion criteria for the review; 25 articles, reporting findings from 21 studies, were included in the synthesis. Seven studies focused on co-morbid LTC self-management for people with SMI, with the remaining articles exploring self-management in general. Six analytic themes and 28 sub-themes were identified from the synthesis. The themes included: the burden of SMI; living with co-morbidities; beliefs and attitudes about self-management; support from others for self-management; social and environmental factors; and routine, structure and planning. Conclusions The synthesis identified a range of barriers and facilitators to self-management, including the burden of living with SMI, social support, attitudes towards self-management and access to resources. To adequately support people with SMI with co-morbid LTCs, healthcare professionals need to account for how barriers and facilitators to self-management are influenced by SMI, and meet the unique needs of this population.