Answer

Annotated Bibliography

Reference

Roberts, S. H., & Bailey, J. E. (2011). Incentives and barriers to lifestyle interventions for             people with severe mental illness: a narrative synthesis of quantitative, qualitative         and mixed methods studies. Journal of advanced nursing, 67(4), 690-708.

Summary

This research study, conducted by Roberts and Bailey in 2011 and published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, sought to investigate the evidence for the factors that support (incentives) and inhibit lifestyle interventions for people with schizophrenia and other severe mental health illnesses. The study draws attention to the fact that severe mental illness patients, especially those with schizophrenia and related conditions, have poorer physical health and higher mortality and morbidity rates compared to the general population. This health inequality, as the authors maintain, is largely attributable to lifestyle and social factors, although antipsychotic therapy also contributes significantly to the inequality. Many researchers in this area tend to focus more on behavioral lifestyle interventions such as exercise programs and smoking cessation, which means that little is known about the factors that may facilitate or inhibit the patients’ engagement with these interventions. To explore these factors, the researchers searched eight electronic databases including Google Scholar and the Cochrane library for journal articles that were published between 1995 and March 2009. They employed a narrative synthesis of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies to analyze the collected data. Research findings showed that some factors that support lifestyle interventions for mental health patients include peer and staff support, personal attributes, symptom reduction, and staff participation, whereas the inhibiting factors (barriers) include treatment effects, illness symptoms, negative staff attitudes, and lack of staff support.  

Analysis

Roberts and Bailey (2011) distanced themselves from the status quo by focusing their research on an under-researched area: the evidence for incentives and barriers to lifestyle interventions for mental health patients. Indeed, investigating the incentives and barriers to lifestyle interventions transcends the current state of affairs in mental health research where the majority of researchers focus primarily on the efficacy of behavioral lifestyle interventions such as weight management, smoking and drug-use cessation, and exercise in the treatment and management of severe mental health illnesses. The research article is also authored by two authors who have RN certifications and work as healthcare professionals, researchers, and advisers in two different universities in the UK. Moreover, it is published in a popular journal – the Journal of Advanced Nursing, meaning it has undergone thorough peer review. Combined, these aspects of the article give it a higher authority as well as make it more authentic and valid. However, the research’s major weakness lies in its currency. The research was conducted and published in February 2011 (more than 8 years ago), which implies that the findings and information presented may be dated.  

Application

Mental health illnesses and their related conditions continue to plague the public health care systems of many countries across the world. In addition to compromising the quality of both patients and their families, mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, contribute to poorer physical health outcomes and higher rates of mortality and morbidity. Various therapies and lifestyle interventions have been developed to help treat people with severe mental health illnesses or at least alleviate their symptoms. However, physicians, nurses, caregivers, and other healthcare practitioners tend to overlook the incentives and barriers to such interventions, making most interventions ineffective or unsuccessful. Therefore, by exploring the incentives and barriers to lifestyle interventions for mental health patients, Roberts and Bailey’ (2011) research is useful to me as a future RN in the sense that it informs me on how I can effectively administer lifestyle interventions to patients while capitalizing on their potential incentives and mitigating their barriers.