APH researchers Berno van Meijel (Professor of Mental Health Nursing at Inholland University of Applied Sciences and Amsterdam UMC), Aartjan Beekman (Psychiatrist and head of the department of psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC) and Marcel Adriaanse (Associate professor at VU Amsterdam) have received €584,000 for the project: Improving physical health and lifestyle behaviors in patients with serious mental illness.
Due to medication and an unhealthy lifestyle, patients with serious mental illness (SMI) have higher cardio metabolic risks. Even though it is clear that lifestyle interventions are effective, this group of patients is less susceptible for the national screening programs targeted at the general population. Moreover it is hard for health professionals to include interventions and paying attention to physical health in daily practice. This results in an overall poor physical health for patients with serious mental illness.
The current study tries to investigate whether the nurse-led GILL (Gezondheid in Lichaam en Leefstijl) eHealth intervention is an effective way to improve physical health and lifestyle behaviors in this patient group. The GILL intervention was developed especially for and with SMI patients and health care professionals.
The study is an extensive collaboration between Amsterdam UMC, Inholland, VU Amsterdam, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences Leeuwarden, Albeda College, MIND, and University of Applied Sciences Amsterdam.