Sport, Health and Performance Enhancement (SHAPE) Research Centre, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK.
Sport, Physical Activity and Health Research Centre, Newman University, Birmingham B32 3NT, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 27;20(3):2291. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032291.
Despite a growing evidence base on the effectiveness of community-based physical activity interventions for mental health, there is a lack of studies that focus on those affected by severe mental illness (SMI), who often experience poorer physical health, and are less physically active than the wider population. The use of peer support groups in this context is also understudied, despite benefits being documented in other contexts. This study examined the impact and process of a nationwide project to embed physical activity into peer support groups for those affected by SMI. Following the embedding of physical activity within peer support groups, interviews and focus groups were conducted to explore the experiences of those involved with the project and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The key findings related to: 1) the social aspects of embedding physical activity in the groups; 2) the focus on peer support and informal physical activity (rather than organised sport) being beneficial; 3) doing things differently and lessons to learn; and 4) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, we found that peer support is an important feature to include in projects encouraging those severely affected by mental illness to become more physically active.
尽管越来越多的证据表明基于社区的身体活动干预措施对心理健康有效，但缺乏关注严重精神疾病（SMI）患者的研究，这些患者通常身体健康状况较差，身体活动水平低于一般人群。尽管在其他情况下已经记录了同伴支持小组的好处，但在这种情况下，对同伴支持小组使用同伴支持小组的研究也很少。本研究考察了将身体活动纳入针对 SMI 患者的同伴支持小组的全国性项目的影响和过程。在将身体活动嵌入同伴支持小组后，进行了访谈和焦点小组，以探讨参与该项目的人的经验，并使用反思性主题分析进行了分析。主要发现涉及：1）将身体活动嵌入小组中的社会方面；2）专注于同伴支持和非正式身体活动（而不是有组织的运动）是有益的；3）做事方式的不同和吸取的教训；4）COVID-19 大流行的影响。总的来说，我们发现同伴支持是鼓励那些受精神疾病严重影响的人变得更加积极参与身体活动的项目的一个重要特征。
