Exploring the Experiences of Physical Activity among Key Stakeholders in Rehabilitation and Recovery Mental Health Services

Physical activity has therapeutic benefits for mental health service users. To date, there is limited evidence that has brought together the experiences of physical activity for service users and key multi-disciplinary service providers that support activity in outpatient settings, particularly in contexts where activity is not well integrated into policy and care structures. Previous research has relied on homogenous samples of either service users or service providers of a specific discipline, and key stakeholders like peer-support workers are under-represented. This research explored and thematically analysed multi-stakeholder (service users, n = 6; and service providers, n = 8) experiences of physical activity in outpatient mental health service in Ireland using phenomenologically influenced qualitative interviews. Two salient themes were identified; ‘The challenges of being physically active in recovery’ and ‘Physical activity is a tool for recovery’. This research presents an account of the experiences of some of these poorly represented stakeholders such as carers, peer-support workers, doctors and nurse management, in addition to other well represented stakeholders.