THE Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District and the University of Wollongong have formed a partnership to deliver better physical health to people living with a mental illness.
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After running a pilot program this year, the refined program starts at Shellharbour Hospital Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit in March, involving MHRU staff, a dietitian, exercise physiologist and UOW exercise physiology students.
"We've been running a pilot program here this year and we managed to receive some funding through the University of Wollongong Community Engagement Scheme to be able to start the program in the first half of next year," UOW associate lecturer in exercise physiology Angela Douglas said.
"The program will run for about 20 weeks and is a holistic approach to physical health, so it involves getting people active, involving a dietician and helping them make healthy choices.
"To start with, we'll be working with the consumers at the hospital, but we aim to expand it so we can continue to work with them once they leave, and we're hoping we'll be able to have exercise equipment and resources people will be able to take home with them."
According to a report released by the National Mental Health Commission, people with a mental health issue face a severely reduced life expectancy, making programs such as the one to be introduced in Shellharbour more important.
Shellharbour Hospital MHRU nurse educator Alex Gagan said there were few services specifically for this group to manage their poor physical health.
"Many mental health consumers face considerable challenges in accessing exercise and healthy lifestyle-based programs and this project will be an important starting point to bridge that gap," he said.
"People with a mental health issue can have their life expectancy reduced by up to 25 years because of an increased risk of conditions such as heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
"This is caused by a combination of things, there's a high prevalence of smoking among people with mental health issues as well as poor diet and substance abuse, and they can also lack motivation, so we're seeing more and more recognition of the importance of promoting physical health when treating mental health consumers."
