Improving health, well‐being and cognition in schizophrenia: making the case for physical activity
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/jpmh.2010.0380 |
| Pages | 32-35 |
| Date | 29 July 2010 |
| Published date | 29 July 2010 |
| Author | Diane Crone,Phil Tyson,Jessica Holley |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
32 journal of public mental health
vol 9 • issue 2
© Pier Professional Ltd, 2010
10.5042/jpmh.2010.0380
Key words:
schizophrenia;
physical activity;
cognitive function;
well-being;
quality of life
include, for example, th e Chief Medical Officer’s
report At Le ast Five a Week: Eviden ce of the impact
on phys ical activ ity and its relat ionsh ip to hea lth
(De partm ent of H ealth , 20 04) on t he im pact
of p hysical activi ty on public health, and mo re
spec ifically policy recomm endation s addre ssing
the physical health needs o f people with s evere
mental il lness (Department of Health, 2006 ) and
treatmen t plans for dep ression and sc hizophrenia
(National I nstitute for Clinical Excellence, 2003;
2004). Furthermore, in terms of practice, the recent
Let’s Get Moving physical activity commi ssioning
guidance (Department of Health, 2009), linked to
the national Change 4 Life social marketing lifestyle
campaign (Department of Health, 2008), identifies
the continued commitment from the government of
the need to promote and develop accessible physical
activit y opportunitie s within the community, for
the pr omotion of general h ealth and well-being .
Th e i nclu sion th eref ore of ph ysic al acti vity
Physical activity is comprised of a range
of behav iours that in volve movement ,
e ne rg y e xp en di tu re an d r ai se d
hea rt rate, su ch a s w alki ng b risk ly,
swim ming or garden ing (De partmen t
of Hea lth, 2008) . The posi tive allia nce betwee n
phy sica l ac tivit y a nd m ental he alth has lon g
been ack nowledged, and from the 1970s onwards
numer ous public ations de monstratin g a posit ive
rel ation ship have culm inate d in a s ubsta ntial
body o f evidence and variou s reviews ( Lawlor &
Hopker, 2001; Saxena et a l, 2005; S tathopoul ou
et al, 2 006; Ellis et al, 2007; Marzo lini et al, 20 08;
Departmen t of Health, 2008 ). As a conseque nce,
he alth po lic y d ocu ment s a nd gui del ines fo r
tre atment and good pract ice i n men tal h ealth
services have emphasised the wide range of holistic
benefits t hat can be derived f rom participation i n
phys ical ac tivity for th e speci fic tr eatment and
pre venti on of men tal healt h pro blems . Th ese
EVALUATION
Diane Crone
Reader, Exercise Science
Faculty of Sport, Health and
Social Care
University of Gloucestershire
Phil Tyson
University of Gloucestershire,
Faculty of Education,
Humanities and Sciences,
University of Gloucestershire
Jessica Holley
PhD Researcher
St George’s University of
London
Correspondence to:
Diane Crone
Reader, Exercise Science
Faculty of Sport, Health and
Social Care
Oxstalls Campus
Oxstalls Lane
Gloucester
GL2 9HW
UK
Email: dcrone@glos.ac.uk
This paper provides a summar y of the current stat e of knowledge on the use of physical activity
as an adjunc tive tr eatmen t in schizop hrenia . There is a well documented relat ionshi p betwe en
physical activity and mental health, which is reflected in numerous health policy recommendation s
for pra ctic e, in bo th t he prom oti on o f m enta l healt h and i n the t reat men t of me ntal he alth
problem s. In schi zophrenia, this association is als o reco gnised , and rese arch h as sug gested that
par ticipation in p hysi cal acti vity re gime s ca n h ave b enefi cial ef fects on pos itiv e an d ne gat ive
symptoms, psychological well-being and anxiety and tension. However, a neglected area of research
is in the potential for physical activity to remediate the cognitive deficits in schizophrenia . Physical
activity has been shown to enhanc e cognitive function in a wide variety of clinical and non-clinical
populatio ns, however this body of research has not yet extend ed to schizophreni a populations.
The authors argue that this should be a future prior ity.
Improving health, well-being
and cognition in schizophrenia:
making the case for physical
activity
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