The MOVEMENT study: Exercise and quality of life in people with mental illness

This is an effectiveness-implementation Hybrid Type 1 design designed to evaluate the clinical-effectiveness of participation in an exercise service delivered by an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) for improving the quality of life in individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). This design will be a quasi-experimental trial, in which participant consent to complete the research measures and have the option of accessing an AEP service as part of their participation in the study. Analyses will compare participants who accept vs decline the AEP service. The study will take place in five mental health service sites in Queensland, specifically in the Brisbane areas. The partner organisations involved are Hospital Health Services (HHSs: Metro North Hospital and Health Service) and non-government organisations (NGOs: Communify QLD; Neami National; Stride; Richmond Fellowship QLD). The primary aims of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the AEP service for improving QoL in people with SMI. Consenting participants self-allocate into either the control or intervention group. The intervention group will receive an integrated exercise service delivered and supervised by an AEP. The exercise intervention will consist of at least one 60 min session per week. Exercise programs will be individualised to participants and conducted as one-on-one or group sessions in various settings, such as community gyms and outdoor environments. Adherence to the intervention will be monitored using a participant / attendance checklist. Participants will have access to the AEP service for 6 months. Exercise sessions will be offered weekly over this intervention period, in 8-10-week blocks. Assessments are completed at three time-points (baseline, 3-month and 6-month follow-up). Exercise intensity will be monitored using a Borg rating of perceived exertion (i.e., 1-10) scale. Session intensity will be modified based on participant requirements. The AEP will engage participants in individual goal setting focused on completing exercises outside supervised sessions. Individual goal setting and exercise prescriptions will be tailored to individual preferences and abilities and include a variety of aerobic (i.e., outdoor walking and running, and machine based activities such as treadmill, rowing, ski, and bike intervals), and resistance exercises (i.e., body weight, free weight, and barbell/machine exercises, including push-ups, squats, dead-lifts, shoulder press, bench press, inverted and bent-over rows, leg curls and leg extensions) and physically active recreation (e.g., sports, active groups), to maximise participant’s ability to participate, safely, in the program.