Educating healthcare professionals to act on the physical health needs of people with serious mental illness: a systematic search for evidence

Abstract

Healthcare professionals in primary and secondary care should monitor the physical health of people with serious mental illness, yet in practice this does not appear to be a routine intervention. Our objective is to develop evidence-based training for healthcare professionals to enable them all to offer better physical care to this population. We performed a systematic search with the aim of evaluating the current evidence of the efficacy of education interventions. Search terms covered Severe Mental Illness, Physical Health and Education. The search yielded 147 papers, of which none were eligible for inclusion. A number of studies were excluded from this review as although there was an implicit education package provided to healthcare professionals, no information was reported on the outcomes of this education with regard to healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. The only information that these studies provided was patient-specific outcomes. It is vital that researchers start to publish details of healthcare professional education and their outcomes in physical health and serious mental illness research.

Nurses' views on physical activity for people with serious mental illness

“…an aspect of more integration). It has been argued that mental health care staff make the most of health education opportunities (such as talking about physical activity) (Hardy, White, Deane, & Gray, 2011) and the nurses in this study appeared to do this.…”

“…It is notable here that physical activity does not figure much in preparation of nurses, especially with respect to health promotion (as distinguished from health education) (Whitehead, 2007). Education and training for currently practicing nurses is also neglected, whether it be lifestyle or physical health care in general (Hardy et al, 2011). As previously proposed, the cardiovascular mental health nurse could be a source of learning on how other nurses in mental health care can promote physical activity.…”

Exploring Barriers to Primary Care For Patients with Severe Mental Illness: Frontline Patient and Provider Accounts

“…Researchers recommend that nurses play a key role in addressing these issues by facilitating improved care and physical health for clients with SMI (Hardy, White, Deane, & Gray, 2011;Pounds, 2010;Scott & Happell, 2011). Smith and colleagues (2007) assigned nurses to assess, refer, continually monitor, and consult with seriously mentally ill patients through the Well-being Support Program (WSP).…”

Physical Health Inequities in People with Severe Mental Illness: Identifying Initiatives for Practice Change

“…However, MHNs believe that they have not acquired the necessary skills or knowledge, and agree that further education and training related to this would be beneficial (Hardy, White, Deane, & Gray, 2011;Unutzer et al, 2006). MHNs' confidence in meeting the physical health needs of clients with SMI is variable and dependent on the nature of the health problem.…”