What Possibilities, Problems and Barriers Do Patients, Suffering from Severe Mental Illness or Alcohol Use Disorder, Perceive Towards Lifestyle Changes or Treatment Seeking to Prevent Cardiovascular Health Problems

Patients suffering from either severe mental illness or alcohol use disorder thus lose 13 to 30 years of life expectancy. The leading cause of death is insufficient detection, diagnoses and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Several interventions aimed at reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease have been developed and tested in randomized controlled trial studies. The interventions tested so far has not shown to have a long-term impact on the health of these patients. Only a few studies have investigated this particular patient group’s perspectives and recommendations on how to prevent and treat risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to learn about the patients’ perception of physical health problems, have them identify potential barriers for lack of treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease, and to obtain knowledge for future interventions. The study was designed as a qualitative study and consisted of semi-structured interviews with patients. Two main themes, motivation and continuity/flexibility, and a number of subthemes were identified. Patients wanted healthcare professionals to be more aware of somatic health and that physical health could be better integrated into psychiatry and in the alcohol treatment facility and the possibility of flexible courses adapted to the individual patient.