For us, co-production is at the heart of our work. That’s why we support people with lived experience of mental illness, who we call “Experts by Experience” or EbEs, to work in equal partnership with healthcare professionals. Professionals from other relevant areas, “Experts by Training” (EbT), together so that they can find effective solutions together.
What we learned
A powerful outcome of our partnership with Sport England is the design and distribution of a questionnaire developed in conjunction with EbEs.
The questionnaire based on The The Theoretical Domains Framework examined the emotional barriers, environmental context and resources, social influence, and beliefs about consequences and capabilities related to engaging in physical activity.
A great example of how barriers and factors play into a person’s move occurred when one of our EbEs mentioned a change in financial circumstances had to go to another gym to cut costs (environmental barrier).
She didn’t like the new gym and felt judged and unwelcome because of her size (emotional barrier), but thanks to the support of family and friends and as long as they were there with her, she continued going (enabling social influence). .
One person living with bipolar disorder in our focus groups understood the importance of physical activity in their everyday life and mentioned that when it was lost, she felt like she lacked energy, her mood deteriorated and she didn’t would be able to accomplish what she had planned for the day.
So she started incorporating physical activity into her day to improve the routine.
Another person with schizophrenia explained that she always showered at the gym, but otherwise sometimes went days without showering when her mood was low.
Improved physical health was not mentioned as much as a benefit of physical activity as mental health.
However, poor physical health was often cited as a barrier to physical activity, refuting the assumption that physical activity only or primarily targets physical health.
And that’s not all!
More than two-thirds of respondents believed they would gain social benefits from engaging in physical activity with others.
One EbE spoke about taking part in walking football and how the support he gained from his peers made him feel “less alone”.
Working for an active future
Through it all, the impact of Sport England funding has been crucial.
We are creating a Move More Mentor role to support people with mental illness to have deeper conversations about physical activity by providing the emotional and practical support they feel they need.
Work with EbEs and In EbTs we link conversations about physical activity with increased support and provision of physical activity.
This includes working with leisure services to co-produce sessions and a best practice guide, as well as working with healthcare professionals to improve conversations about physical activity and link these to our wider work.
By continuing our partnership with Sport England and piloting scalable, sustainable interventions, we are creating a better future.
We’re reaching more groups and expanding our impact, and while this is (much) more than one day, World Mental Health Day is a great time to remember the many benefits of physical activity for people with serious mental illnesses.
So, this World Mental Health Day, don’t forget to talk about it. Physical activity is truly a basic human right.
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