Kathleen O’Hara|Ana Stefancic|Leopoldo J. Cabassa
Developing a peer-based healthy lifestyle program for people with serious mental illness in supportive housing
Columbia University|Columbia University|Columbia University
overweight obesity disproportionally impact people serious mental illness smi healthy lifestyle interventions improve health people smi may need adapted population aims study 1 examine feasibility acceptability delivering peerbased group lifestyle balance pglb intervention 2 describe intervention adaptations people smi supportive housing peer specialists social workers cofacilitated 12 weekly pglb sessions 14 supportive housing clients conducted structured interviews collected qualitative data field notes two focus groups frequencies measures central tendencies used describe participant characteristics pglb feasibility acceptability measures qualitative data analyzed using directed content analysis participants average attended 8 12 sessions reported services satisfactory helpful intervention adaptations ongoing throughout study focused adding peerspecialists cofacilitators increasing individualized support developing strategies address socioeconomic barriers impacting participants ability engage healthy lifestyle changes study findings suggest participants smi supportive housing perceived pglb feasible acceptable expanding relevance reach peerbased healthy lifestyle interventions community settings serving people smi requires careful adaptations socioeconomic realities population complexities living comorbid health mental health conditions