Session: Understanding Effectiveness and Participant Experiences of a Peer-Led Healthy Lifestyle Intervention for People with Serious Mental Illness (Society for Social Work and Research 25th Annual Conference - Social Work Science for Social Change)

Background & Purpose. People with serious mental illness (SMI) (e.g., schizophrenia) experience high rates of premature mortality, primarily due to disproportionate risk for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to the general population. For racial/ethnic minorities and individuals living in supportive housing, these risks are further magnified, making them a priority population for health interventions. Healthy lifestyle interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing obesity and CVD risk among people with SMI, yet these interventions are not routinely available in community-based settings and racial/ethnic minorities are generally under-represented as participants. Increasing the life expectancy of people with SMI requires bridging the gap between research and practice and developing evidence on how to best implement health interventions in routine practice settings to increase their reach and benefits. This symposium will report findings from a NIH-funded hybrid type 1 trial that examined the implementation and effectiveness of a peer-led healthy lifestyle intervention for people with SMI, who were primarily racial/ethnic minorities, living in three supportive housing agencies.

Methods & Results. This symposium will consist of four presentations using different methods (e.g., randomized clinical trial, qualitative- grounded theory) that expand our understanding of the outcomes and experiences of participants engaged in a peer-led healthy lifestyle intervention. The first presentation will discuss outcomes from the effectiveness trial, highlighting changes in clinically significant weight loss, as well as differences in outcomes by study site. The second presentation will discuss findings from in-depth qualitative interviews examining the experiences of participants engaged in the intervention, highlighting their attempts to integrate intervention concepts into their daily lives, the challenges they encountered, and the strategies they used for behavior change. The third presentation will describe participants' experiences receiving health-related services from both peer and non-peer providers and how they viewed each providers' approach to practice. The fourth presentation will explore if and how the peer-led healthy lifestyle intervention can be sustained from the perspectives of leadership from the three supportive housing agencies.

Conclusions & Implications. We will encourage the audience to share their own experiences with addressing the health of people with SMI and how the methods discussed could be used to explore the implementation and effectiveness of other interventions in community-based settings. Upon completion of this panel, attendees will be able to discuss how participants engaged in the process of behavior change, how peer and non-peer providers' distinct approaches to health support may benefit individuals with SMI, and to identify potential adaptations and implementation strategies that could support the sustainability of health interventions. We will also discuss next steps and how future studies can further address how healthy lifestyle interventions work, for whom, and under which conditions they exert their biggest impacts.