The Potential Impact of a Public Health Approach to Improving the Physical Health of People Living with Mental Illness

Abstract

With already wide disparities in physical health and life expectancy, COVID-19 presents people with mental illness with additional threats to their health: decreased access to health services, increased social isolation, and increased socio-economic disadvantage. Each of these factors has exacerbated the risk of poor health and early death for people with mental illness post-COVID-19. Unless effective primary care and preventative health responses are implemented, the physical illness epidemic for this group will increase post the COVID-19 pandemic. This perspective paper briefly reviews the literature on the impact of COVID-19 on service access, social isolation, and social disadvantage and their combined impact on physical health, particularly cancer, respiratory diseases, heart disease, smoking, and infectious diseases. The much-overlooked role of poor physical health on suicidality is also discussed. The potential impact of public health interventions is modelled based on Australian incidence data and current research on the percentage of early deaths of people living with mental illnesses that are preventable. Building on the lessons arising from services’ response to COVID-19, such as the importance of ensuring access to preventive, screening, and primary care services, priority recommendations for consideration by public health practitioners and policymakers are presented.

A retrospective analysis of complications associated with postpartum hemorrhage up to 1 year postpartum in mothers with and without a pre-existing mental health diagnosis

“…It may be possible that mothers with pre-existing mental health disorders are more medically complicated in general, 40 –42 thereby increasing overall risks for complications postpartum especially after PPH. 43,44 As previously mentioned, these patients are at increased risk for obesity 45 which itself increases maternal risks due to cardiovascular diseases, thromboembolism, hypertension, and stroke. 46 –48 Our study was unable to account for obesity as body mass index was not consistently available in the TriNetX ® database.…”

A Cardiovascular Risk Optimization Program in People With Schizophrenia: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

“…Some authors have suggested that the existing inequalities between people with schizophrenia and the general population have increased even further as a result of the pandemic 48 . COVID-19 has increased the prevalence of physical health problems and the risk of premature death in people with severe mental disorders, resulting in increased physical health disparities in people living with mental illness 49 …”

“… 48 COVID-19 has increased the prevalence of physical health problems and the risk of premature death in people with severe mental disorders, resulting in increased physical health disparities in people living with mental illness. 49 …”

A critical review of research into mental health consumers' perspectives on their physical health: Is there an absence of consumers in the design, conduct, analysis and reporting of this research?

“…Furthermore, extant literature tends to over-emphasize individual health responsibilities at the expense of social factors that influence health status. The purpose of this literature review was to (1) distill consumer experiences, perspectives, and understandings concerning their physical and mental health and (2) ascertain the role of consumers in the design of research and across all aspects of the research production process.…”

“…As a group, people with a lived experience of mental health concerns have far worse health and life expectancy outcomes than the rest of the population ( 1 ). Mental health consumers experience two times the rate of early death compared to the general population, and in rural Australia, this rate is three times higher ( 2 ) 1 .…”