Barriers to engagement with a Physical Health Check in people with SMI
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative study to explore the barriers to engagement with a Physical Health Check in patients with Severe Mental Illness (SMI)
IRAS ID
314222
Contact name
Karen Hodson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
People with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) die on average 15-20 years earlier than the general population. This group are more likely to smoke, suffer with obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol compared to the general population, which can all lead to premature deaths. If health care professionals are able to identify these choices and/or diagnoses early, patients could gain the necessary support and treatment to manage these to potentially prevent early deaths. In November 2023, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health board set up Physical Health Check clinics for patients with SMI. The service is run by The Health Check team who are based in primary Care and already rotate around GP practices to offer Physical Health Checks for other groups of patients. The clinic involves a health care assistant from the team sat in a GP practice to identifying patients, offer and undertake physical health checks, as well as, support them to better manage any abnormalities.
The project proposal is to offer informal interviews to patients who chose not to attend the physical health check to explore reasons for the choice. The interview is expected to last 30 minutes but can be up to 1 hour.
The project will allow barriers to be identified and offer ways to reduce these. This feedback will be key for us to develop the service to better suit the needs of the group and to help more of these patients engage in physical health improvements.
Interviews will be either face-to-face, telephone or Microsoft Teams. If face to face, this will be in a location of convenience to the patients, either their GP or a CTMUHB hospital site.
The research team consists of the Chief Investigator and the Principal Researcher. Support has been provided by Cardiff University, Research Capacity Building Collaboration Wales and the R&D department at CTMUHB.REC name
Wales REC 2
REC reference
24/WA/0172
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jul 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion