The Design and Evaluation of a Digital Physical Activity Intervention for Individuals With Severe Mental Illness in an Irish Mental Health Residential Setting

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to collaboratively develop and evaluate Active Ease, a co-designed, web-based digital physical activity application, to promote and maintain physical activity levels among individuals with severe mental illness in an Irish mental health residential care setting.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

* What are the barriers and facilitators individuals with severe mental illness face when participating in physical activity within an Irish mental health residential setting?
* What is the potential role of digital technologies in promoting and maintaining physical activity engagement for individuals with severe mental illness?
* Can a co-designed digital physical activity intervention, developed with HSE clinicians and service users, effectively promote and maintain physical activity levels among individuals with severe mental illness in an Irish mental health residential setting?

Researchers will compare two intervention houses receiving Active Ease to one control house receiving usual care.

Participants will:

* Engage with Active Ease across two consecutive intervention phases
* Wear a GENEActiv accelerometer for seven consecutive days at each data collection timepoint
* Have their body mass index recorded
* Participate in semi-structured interviews about their experience of Active Ease
* Complete a follow-up assessment at +12 weeks post-Phase Two

Conditions

• Severe Mental Illness
• Health Professionals

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Active Ease Digital Physical Activity Intervention

Active Ease is a co-designed digital-physical activity web-based application developed for individuals with severe mental illness in Irish mental health residential settings. The platform was adapted from the Move More Toolkit and informed by feedback from Public and Patient Involvement service users and clinicians. Active Ease includes an educational homepage on the benefits of physical activity and a range of physical activities with guided visual demonstrations, including videos and images. The intervention was delivered across two consecutive phases: Phase One lasted 10 weeks with the researcher acting as a digital navigator and physical activity facilitator; Phase Two lasted six weeks with the researcher supporting clinicians to independently facilitate physical activity engagement among service users. Environmental adaptations in Phase Two included screen mirroring Active Ease to communal televisions and placement of visual aids and a guidebook within the residential settings. Th

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Health Service Executive (HSE)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Loughborough University

  collaborator OTHER

• Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Munster Technological University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

19 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-02-01

Primary Completion

2025-12-31

Completion

2025-12-31

Countries

• Ireland

Study Locations