Physical health and wellbeing of emerging and young adults with mental illness: an integrative review of international literature.

Physical health in people with mental illness is often compromised. Chronic physical conditions and disease risk factors occur at higher rates than in the general population. Although substantial research exists regarding mental-physical comorbidities in middle to older-aged adults and mental illness consequential to childhood physical illness, research addressing physical health in young people/emerging adults of 16-24 years with primary mental illnesses is minimal. Health problems often track from youth to adulthood, indicating a need to better recognize and understand the overall health of young people with mental illness. This paper reports findings from an integrative review of published research investigating physical health of emerging/young adults with mental illness. A total of 18 research papers were systematically analysed. The review found that comorbid mental-physical illness/conditions were evident across a wide age span. Specific physical health problems, including pain, gastrointestinal, and respiratory disorders, were apparent in those 16 years to those in their mid-late 20s, and/or with first episode psychosis. Lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic disorders occurred with some frequency and originated prior to adulthood. These findings highlight the need for targeted health screening and illness prevention strategies for emerging/young adults with mental health problems and draws attention to the need for young people to be supported in their health-care behaviours.

Care and management of adolescents with mental health problems and disorders.

Adolescents with mental health problems or disorders are a vulnerable group who do not always receive optimal care. This article examines the nurse's role in interacting with young people with mental health problems and disorders. It takes a broad look at young people, their development, mental health and wellbeing, and explores how nurses, working in a variety of settings, can use verbal and non-verbal communication to help improve the care given to these patients.

A multicenter randomized controlled trial of motivational interviewing in teenagers with diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine the efficacy of motivational interviewing with teenagers aged 14-17 years with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial analyzed by intention to treat, 66 teenagers with type 1 diabetes attending diabetes clinics in South Wales, U.K., were randomly assigned to the intervention group (38) and control group (28). Teenagers in the intervention group received motivational interviewing, and the control group received support visits. All participants received individual sessions over 12 months. The main outcome measures assessed at baseline, 6, 12, and 24 months were serum A1C and psychosocial self-report questionnaires including quality of life and well-being measures. RESULTS: At 12 months, 60 patients had complete data. At the end of the intervention (12 months), the mean A1C in the motivational interviewing group was significantly lower than in the control group (P = 0.04), after adjusting for baseline values. At 24 months (when n = 47), this difference in A1C was maintained (P = 0.003). There were differences in psychosocial variables at 12 months, with the motivational interviewing group indicating more positive well-being, improved quality of life, and differences in their personal models of illness (all P < 0.01). Some of these differences were maintained at 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: Motivational interviewing can be an effective method of facilitating behavioral changes in teenagers with type 1 diabetes with subsequent improvement in their glycemic control.

Measuring adaptations of motivational interviewing: the development and validation of the behavior change counseling index (BECCI).

One of the most common challenges faced by health professionals is encouraging patients to change their behavior to improve their health. This paper reports the development of a checklist, the behavior change counseling index (BECCI). This aims to measure practitioner competence in behavior change counseling (BCC), an adaptation of motivational interviewing suitable for brief consultations in healthcare settings. The checklist has demonstrated acceptable levels of validity, reliability and responsiveness, and aims to assist trainers and researchers in assessing change in practitioner behavior before, during and after training in BCC. BECCI will also provide valuable information about the standard of BCC that practitioners were trained to deliver in studies of BCC as an intervention.