Development and evaluation of a health promotion group for individuals with severe psychiatric disabilities.
OBJECTIVE
A six-step program development and evaluation method integrating recovery principles of empowerment and choice in healthcare decisions with theory driven research from the fields of health promotion and psychiatric rehabilitation is presented.


METHODS
A pilot wellness program that taught basic nutrition, exercise, and stress management skills to individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia demonstrates how to complete each step. Pre-post pilot data are analyzed using paired-sample t tests.


RESULTS
Nine people diagnosed with schizophrenia participated in the pilot program. Despite a small sample size and limited statistical power, a paired-sample t test suggested that the program appeared to increase participants' self-efficacy for health practices (p<.05), specifically in the domains of psychological well-being (p<.01) and health responsibility (p<.05), while decreasing their perceptions of the overall amount of stress in their life (p<.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment providers are encouraged to use the six-step method to create programs that successfully blend empirical research methodology with consumer-centered participation.
Gretchen-Doorly
Denise
D
Department of Psychology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6968, USA. ddoorly@mednet.ucla.edu
Subotnik
Kenneth L
KL
Kite
Robin E
RE
Alarcon
Evelyn
E
Nuechterlein
Keith H
KH
D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare / Q000458:organization & administration; D002140:California; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology; D020377:Self Efficacy; D055815:Young Adult