title: A Pilot Study of a Peer-Group Lifestyle Intervention Enhanced With mHealth Technology and Social Media for Adults With Serious Mental Illness.
abstract: This pilot study examined the preliminary effectiveness of a peer-group lifestyle intervention enhanced with mobile health technology and social media for obese individuals with serious mental illness. Thirty-two participants with a body mass index of 30 or higher received a 24-week intervention designed to facilitate peer support for lifestyle change through experiential learning and use of wearable activity tracking devices, smartphone applications, and Facebook to reinforce physical activity, healthy eating, and group participation between sessions. The primary outcome was weight loss. Secondary measures included fitness and participants' perceptions of peer-group support. Most participants (72%) lost weight, including 28% achieving clinically significant weight loss, and 17% of participants showed clinically significant improvements in cardiovascular fitness. Weight loss was associated with perceived peer-group support. This evaluation demonstrated the preliminary effectiveness of a potentially scalable peer-group lifestyle intervention delivered in community mental health settings for obese individuals with serious mental illness.
authors.affiliation: *Health Promotion Research Center at Dartmouth; †The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Dartmouth College; and Departments of ‡Psychiatry and §Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH.
authors.forename: Kelly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Aschbrenner
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Naslund
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shevenell
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kinney
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Bartels
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D061345:Early Medical Intervention / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010379:Peer Group; D010865:Pilot Projects; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D061108:Social Media / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data