Living Well: An Intervention to Improve Medical Illness Self-Management Among Individuals With Serious Mental Illness

Objective:Many adults with serious mental illness have significant medical illness burden and poor illness self-management. In this study, the authors examined Living Well, a group-based illness self-management intervention for adults with serious mental illness that was cofacilitated by two providers, one of whom has lived experience with co-occurring mental health and medical conditions.Methods:Adults with serious mental illness (N=242) were randomly assigned to Living Well or an active control condition. Participants completed assessments of quality of life; health attitudes; self-management behaviors; and symptoms at baseline, posttreatment, and follow-up. Emergency room use was assessed by means of chart review. Mixed-effects models examined group × time interactions on outcomes.Results:Compared with the control group, adults in Living Well had greater improvements at posttreatment in mental health–related quality of life (t=2.15, p=.032), self-management self-efficacy (t=4.10, p<.001), patient activ...