Park-Based Physical Activity: Testing Feasibility, Acceptability, And Preliminary Effectiveness In Adults With Serious Mental Illness

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INTRODUCTION: Adults with serious mental illness (SMI) suffer from higher rates of premature mortality compared to the general population. Underlying modifiable cardiometabolic risk factors (e.g., obesity, poor fitness) are more prevalent and manifest earlier in those with SMI. Physical activity (PA) can improve health and quality of life in SMI populations, but challenges exist for effective PA interventions. Parks offer numerous health benefits including PA enjoyment and stress reduction, supporting them as ideal locations for PA interventions among SMI populations. Exercise Is Medicine (EIM) style park-base PA interventions are growing in popularity. Yet, little data exists for EIM interventions with SMI populations. PURPOSE: Test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of an EIM park-based PA intervention in adults with SMI. METHODS: Data were collected in Spring 2019. Participants diagnosed with SMI were recruited through a behavioral health facility. Park-based PA sessions (45 min) occurred 3 days/week for six weeks. Data were captured with baseline health assessments (e.g., body mass index: BMI), weekly attendance, and pre and post surveys. PA Class Satisfaction Questionnaire (PACSQ) captured class fun, enjoyment, and overall satisfaction on an 8-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 8 = strongly agree). International PA Questionnaire captured minutes of PA. Fitness was captured via 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Wilcoxon signed-ranked tests explored intervention effectiveness. RESULTS: Participants (n = 4) were 50% male with mean age of 49 ± 5.7 years and BMI of 34 ± 7.4. Attendance ranged from 60-100%. All participants expressed high levels of class fun and enjoyment 7.5 ± 0.3 and overall class satisfaction 7.1 ± 0.60. All mean scores improved pre to post intervention, though no statistically significant changes were observed pre-test to post-test for BMI (30.7 ± 4.9 vs 30.1 ± 3.9 kg/m2), weight (76.8 ± 0.9 vs 75.6 ± 3.0 kg), 6MWT (383.3 ± 62.9 vs 408.3 ± 72.2 meters), and MET-min/week of PA (1068 ± 426.1 vs 1996 ± 1312.9). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to collect park-based PA intervention data in adults with SMI. Results indicate that adults with SMI did participate in and enjoy park-based PA sessions. Further pilot intervention work is planned to develop this intervention approach.