The impacts and causes of the health gap in people living with severe mental illness: a systematic review

People living with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder die, on average, approximately 20 years earlier than those without. Evidence indicates this is often due to physical illness, such as diabetes and heart disease. In addition, ‘lifestyle factors’ such as smoking, physical inactivity and poor diet, can lead to poor physical health. There is no current overview of the causes and assessment of the impact on early deaths and on disability during life.  We will address this by reviewing published research evidence to answer, for people living with severe mental illness:

1)    What is the size and impact of the negative health outcomes?

2)    What are the causes of those negative outcomes?

We have discussed projects including this one at several patient and public engagement (PPIE) events which have helped understand the priorities for support in improving physical health that people with lived experience have.

We will use PPIE events to discuss and disseminate our findings, which we will also publish in academic journals and produce a social media post. In the longer term, our results will be used to inform the design of new or improved services to reduce the health differences.

Co-applicants

Carolyn Chew-Graham, Elizabeth Cottrell, Saeed Farooq, Joanne Jordan, David Shiers (Keele)

Amount awarded: £34 988.00