בריאות גופנית בקרב מתמודדים עם Severe Mental Illness: תפקיד התמיכה החברתית: [מאמר מחקר]

Background: Significant rate of individuals with Severe Mental Illnesses (SMI) also suffer from chronic physical conditions. Social support is a potential resource for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, stability of mental health and good physical health. However, little is known about the types of social support that people with SMI in general have, and especially about the relationship between social support and their physical health.Objectives: To examine the association between the various sources of support: familial support, close social circle support, the support of community services and the physicalhealth among people with SMI.Methods: A cross sectional design of secondary data from the "the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Routine Outcome Measurement PR-ROM" database. The PR-ROM includes information on various areas of life and outcomes of people receiving rehabilitation services as part of the Mental Disability Recovery Law (such as, housing, employment, and/or a social club).The study population included 7176 questionnaires from PR-ROM participants. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to predict the relationship between social support (family, close friends and community-services' support) and good physical health (self-reported), while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviors. Findings: More than 60% reported some physical problems, of whom 40% were found to be suffering from various physical problems that impaired their functioning from time to time. More than a third reported smoking, about two-thirds do not maintain a healthy diet and more than 60% do not carry out any physical activity. Among the more prevalent physical health problems were: obesity (23%), cholesterol/hyperlipidemia (20.9%) and diabetes (14.7%). The multivariate analysis showed a significant positive association between family support and community recreational services and physical health among people with SMI,while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviors (P<0.001).Conclusions: These findings suggest that the overall health condition among people with SMIshould be examined in broad contexts that take social resources into consideration. Nursing plays a centre role in promoting interventions and treatment approaches that combine education for a better physical and mental health state, the empowerment of existing support resources (e.g.,family) or optimal utilization of community support services (e.g., within a "rehabilitation basket")as part of a better holistic approach among people with SMI.