Whole Health Action Management: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Peer-Led Health Promotion Intervention.

OBJECTIVE: Adults with serious mental illness have high rates of general medical comorbidity and encounter challenges in dealing with multiple health conditions. Chronic illness self-management programs may help them more effectively cope with comorbid illnesses, especially when instructors are certified peer specialists. This study assessed the longitudinal effectiveness of a peer-delivered health promotion program. METHODS: Community mental health program clients in Georgia and Illinois with serious mental illness and health impairments were randomly assigned to receive either Whole Health Action Management (WHAM), a medical illness self-management program led by peer specialists, or care as usual, resulting in a sample of N=139 (WHAM N=68, control N=71). Assessments were conducted at study baseline and at 3 and 6 months. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine change over time in the primary outcome of patient activation and secondary outcomes of general health, hope, and employment. RESULTS: Longitudinal analysis indicated that compared with control participants, WHAM participants demonstrated significantly greater improvement over time in patient activation for health care. Intervention participants also demonstrated greater improvement in their self-assessed general health, overall hopefulness, and paid employment. Reactions to the WHAM program were positive, with 97% reporting being very or somewhat satisfied, and almost two-thirds (63%) reporting that their health was better than before they joined the program. CONCLUSIONS: The WHAM program improved patient activation, perceived general medical health, hopefulness, and likelihood of paid employment among people with serious mental illness and co-occurring medical conditions. Results suggest that peer-delivered health self-management education is effective and well received by participants.

Peer-Led Self-Management of General Medical Conditions for Patients With Serious Mental Illnesses: A Randomized Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with serious mental illnesses have high rates of general medical comorbidity and challenges in managing these conditions. A growing workforce of certified peer specialists is available to help these individuals more effectively manage their health and health care. However, few studies have examined the effectiveness of peer-led programs for self-management of general medical conditions for this population. METHODS: This randomized study enrolled 400 participants with a serious mental illness and one or more chronic general medical conditions across three community mental health clinics. Participants were randomly assigned to the Health and Recovery Peer (HARP) program, a self-management program for general medical conditions led by certified peer specialists (N=198), or to usual care (N=202). Assessments were conducted at baseline and three and six months. RESULTS: At six months, participants in the intervention group demonstrated a significant differential improvement in the primary study outcome, health-related quality of life. Specifically, compared with the usual care group, intervention participants had greater improvement in the Short-Form Health Survey physical component summary (an increase of 2.7 versus 1.4 points, p=.046) and mental component summary (4.6 versus 2.5 points, p=.039). Significantly greater six-month improvements in mental health recovery were seen for the intervention group (p=.02), but no other between-group differences in secondary outcome measures were significant. CONCLUSIONS: The HARP program was associated with improved physical health- and mental health-related quality of life among individuals with serious mental illness and comorbid general medical conditions, suggesting the potential benefits of more widespread dissemination of peer-led disease self-management in this population.