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Equally Well: the evidence, resources and tools

Equally Well evidence, resources and tools

Equally Well is informed by an evidence review of published and unpublished literature to understand the extent of the problem, the drivers and the interventions which have been shown to be effective.

Key findings

New Zealand’s situation is very similar to other relatively wealthy countries.

People experiencing mental health and addiction issues die much earlier than their counterparts in the general population, with a two to three times greater risk of premature death (defined as dying before the age of 65). Two-thirds of this premature mortality is due to cardiovascular disease, cancer and other physical illnesses.

Rates of metabolic syndrome, viral and oral health problems, respiratory diseases, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are higher for this population group.
There’s a significant association between anti-psychotic use and risk of diabetes.

There are notable gaps in research, for example, in relation to effective interventions for Māori and Pacific populations.

Drivers

Drivers of relatively poor health outcomes include:

  • greater exposure to known risk factors – low socio-economic status, high rates of smoking, alcohol and other drug use, reduced physical activity and poor nutrition
  • psychotropic medication effects – their contribution to obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes
  • reduced access to and quality of healthcare – due to financial and structural barriers, stigma and discrimination.

Solutions

Promising interventions include changes at a systems level and at the individual level (mainly trying to reduce exposure to known risk factors).

At a systems level, health care services need to increase integration between mental health and physical health care, and develop shared care arrangements between primary and secondary care.

Clinical guidelines need to clearly identify roles and responsibilities in relation to monitoring and managing physical health care.

Promising behaviour change interventions combine personalised support for smoking cessation, increasing physical activity, improving nutrition and general wellbeing. Interventions based on good evidence, which are directed by the people accessing services and work towards achieving long-term sustainable lifestyle changes, have been shown to be successful at an individual and small group level. However no simple or single approach has demonstrated long-term effectiveness.

Nutrition and exercise programmes that include the following characteristics are likely to have greater success.

  • Build on existing therapeutic alliance.
  • Incorporate cognitive and behavioural strategies.
  • Combine exercise, dietary counselling and health promotion.
  • Have realistic and/or modest outcome targets.
  • Are flexible in accommodating individual needs and differences.
  • Have a long-term approach and provide on-going support beyond the initial intervention
  • Include group and/or social components.
  • Acknowledge and take into account possible barriers to participating in such programmes.
  • Have a peer support component alongside staff support and active participation.

Resources and tools

A range of resources and tools are available to help organisations and people get involved in Equally Well. Scroll to the bottom of this page for more information.

SEE US campaign

People experiencing mental health and addiction issues die much earlier than the general population, with a two to three times greater risk of premature death (defined as dying before the age of 65). Two-thirds of this is due to cardiovascular disease, cancer and other physical illnesses. Determined to impact this imbalance, the Equally Well Collaborative has launched the SEE US activation campaign.

Equally Well Evidence Review Webinar

Webinar recordings (2019)

Equally Well webinar – Champions 101: A webinar presented by Dr Helen Lockett on the role of an Equally Well Champion and how you can help achieve physical health equity for people with mental health and addiction issues.
Equally Well webinar – Cardiovascular disease and mental health: A webinar presented by Dr Ruth Cunningham on the evidence linking mental health and cardiovascular disease risk.

Get in touch

Resources

Stories

Related Initiatives