Implementing metabolic risk assessment in a secondary care mental health service.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to describe a metabolic risk assessment programme that was established by community mental health teams working within one locality of a District Health Board in Auckland.

CONCLUSIONS

Physical health disparities between people with serious mental illness and the general population are of great concern. We have described a systematic way to engage with clients about the prevention of two important contributors to these disparities: cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. Around 15% of all adult service users of the mental health service in the locality attended this metabolic risk assessment clinic in the first 12 months of its operation.