Session: Informing and Testing Interventions That Promote Health Behavioral Change in People with Severe Mental Illness (Society for Social Work and Research 15th Annual Conference: Emerging Horizons for Social Work Research)

The average age of death for persons with serious mental illness (SMI) is an alarming 52.4 years, 25–30 years less than the US average. High rates of obesity, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and cigarette smoking among individuals with SMI are associated with cardiovascular disease, the single greatest cause of premature mortality. A growing body of research on health-promotion interventions suggests modest improvements in physical exercise, nutrition, and smoking cessation for persons with SMI. Despite a national consensus on the urgency of reducing cardiovascular mortality risk in persons with SMI, there are few interventions designed to increase health behaviors. This symposium consists of four presentations which show the development and/or efficacy of interventions designed to change nutrition, smoking, and exercise behaviors in people with SMI. The first presentation uses qualitative methods to provide the consumers understanding of healthy eating and the natural barriers and promoters of eating healthy. The second study evaluates family contact and its relationship to health outcomes as a first step in exploring the feasibility and potential promise of incorporating social support for health promotion in this population. The third pilots a computerized motivational tool to engage people in evidence-based smoking cessation treatments. The fourth study is a randomized control trial of a fitness promotion program designed to increase healthy eating and physical exercise. Collectively, these studies use diverse methods to inform and test interventions that promote health behavioral change in people with severe mental illness.