SPACES:QUAD WS1 V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Supporting Physical Activity through Co-production in people with Severe Mental Illness: Qualitative Approaches for intervention Development (SPACES:QUAD) (Work Stream 1)
IRAS ID
301968
Contact name
Emily Peckham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Life expectancy is reduced by around 15-20 years for people with severe mental illness (SMI) compared to people without SMI, and this gap is increasing. The majority of these early deaths are due to physical health problems, which are partly preventable and which are related to factors including health behaviours such as diet, smoking and physical activity. Increasing physical activity can improve physical health in everyone and The World Health Organization has said that encouraging people to be more active can be as beneficial as quitting smoking. People with SMI are less physically active than the general population. Supporting people with SMI to increase their levels of physical activity could help to reduce the life expectancy gap.
This study will work with people with SMI, their carers’, health professionals and physical activity experts to develop an intervention aimed at helping people with SMI to increase their physical activity and reduce the amount of time they spend sedentary (sitting or lying down).
Participants will be recruited through the NHS and voluntary sector organisations and research with service users, carers and professionals will be carried out in accessible community venues. This study is work-package 1 and will last approximately 18 months. There will be two focus groups, a workshop and interviews (all qualitative research – about thoughts, feelings and experiences rather than numbers/statistics) which will aim to find out about barriers and facilitators to physical activity, create an intervention to increase and do an initial test of acceptability.
This application is for qualitative approaches to physical activity intervention development (funded by the National Institute for Health Research- Programme Grants for Applied Research). Work packages 2-4 involve further testing of the intervention and are not covered here.
Summary of Results
The SPACES:Quad project aimed to design an intervention to support people with severe mental ill health (SMI) to be more physically active.
Over a 12 month period, the research team gathered information from focus groups to a) identify the barriers and facilitators to physical activity for people with SMI and b) identify effective components of already existing physical activity interventions designed for people with SMI.
The focus groups took place in Sheffield and Leeds and were attended by people living with SMI, their carers’ and health professionals who work with people with SMI and/or in physical activity.
The results of this work was presented to our Consensus Group who met face-to-face over a number of months in central Sheffield. This group was made up of people with SMI, carers and health professionals who support people with SMI. Using the evidence collected as well as their own experiences, the Consensus Group were able to input into the production of the SPACES intervention in collaboration with the research team.
The result of this work is the SPACES Physical Activity Intervention, which includes:
● Weekly group sessions, led by two trained Physical Activity Coordinators (PACs), with up to 60 minutes of physical activity, 30 minutes for a themed discussion on topics surrounding physical activity, and 30 minutes for socialising and addressing any queries.
● 1-to-1 support between PAC and participant at regular intervals throughout the intervention, including long form consultations (45 to 60 minutes) and brief check-ins (15 to 30 minutes).
● Weekly session attendance prompts.
● Peer support from those taking part in the intervention (e.g., participants may choose to create a WhatsApp group to keep in touch outside of weekly sessions).
● Additional resources such as a participant handbook and a wearable activity monitor.REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/WM/0206
Date of REC Opinion
28 Sep 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion