Innovations aimed at improving the physical health of the seriously mentally ill: an integrative review

Tranter S et al. – Although there is some evidence to demonstrate that health assessments are effective in highlighting physical health problems, the evidence to support health education and multimodal interventions is far from conclusive. Further research is needed, in particular larger intervention and longitudinal studies, to help nurses decide on the best possible interventions that will improve the physical health of the seriously mentally ill.

Methods

• Integrative literature review.
• The review was conducted using an adapted version of Whittemore and Knafl’s review method to critically appraise and evaluate the literature.

Results

• Three main themes derived for the types of intervention in the studies emerged from the review.
• These included assessment, health education/health promotion and multimodal interventions.

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