Quality of Life of People with Mental Health Challenges and Problematic Substance Use while Engaged with an Exercise Physiology Service
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
Meg, Doohan
Dyer, Brett
O'Brien, Jake
Kayal, Mridula
Chapman, Justin
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract
People with mental health challenges and problematic substance use may experience low quality of life (QoL) because of illness-related factors and psychosocial stressors. Evidence indicates that regular exercise can improve QoL for people with a range of mental health and substance use issues, and Accredited Exercise Physiologists (AEPs) provide evidence-based exercise interventions for people with a range of health conditions. This study examined QoL changes in people with mental health challenges and problematic substance use while engaged in an AEP service. The service was implemented over three years and involved weekly group exercise sessions and health education. Linear mixed-effects models were used to evaluate trajectories of QoL total score and each dimension (independent living, pain, senses, relationships, mental health, coping). A total of 295 participants were inducted, with 161 completing at least two assessments. QoL improved by 5.8% per year (95%CI: 1.8–9.8%), predominantly in mental health and coping dimensions. This study demonstrates the feasibility and adoption of AEP services to inform service planning for improving QoL in people with mental health challenges and problematic substance use.
Journal Title
Community Mental Health Journal
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© The Author(s) 2025, corrected publication 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Item Access Status
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advance online version.
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Public health
Clinical and health psychology
Social and personality psychology
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Kugelman, J; Meg, D; Dyer, B; O'Brien, J; Kayal, M; Chapman, J, Quality of Life of People with Mental Health Challenges and Problematic Substance Use while Engaged with an Exercise Physiology Service, Community Mental Health Journal, 2025