Exploring the feasibility and acceptability of a physical activity programme for individuals with serious mental illness: A case study

Partnering with community agencies to implement physical activity (PA) interventions within the care for individuals with serious mental illness is important for improving the translation of research into practice. As such, a case study was conducted to explore individual participant experiences (N= 5, 60% male) and contextual circumstances that may influence the acceptability and feasibility of a pilot one-on-one 6-week PA intervention, within the broader context of a university-community organisation partnership. Interviews were conducted with participants and key implementation stakeholders (i.e. a community organisation stakeholder and a PA programme trainer). Deductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes related to programme feasibility and acceptability. Insights pertaining to programme development and delivery were reported to understand feasibility. Programme participants and key implementation stakeholders also described trainers, the gym environment/external collaboration, and the one-on-one, tailored nature of the programme as being key aspects of programme acceptability. These findings provide support for a university-community agency collaboration in the context of a PA intervention for mental illness. Suggestions for future community-based research are provided.