Authors (including presenting author) :
Choi YS(1), Lai SH(1), Chan KS(1), Lee WK(1), Chin YM(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Occupational Therapy Department, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Keyword 1: :
Lifestyle Medicine
Keyword 2: :
Motivational Interviewing
Keyword 3: :
Occupational Engagement
Keyword 4: :
Sensorium Garden
Keyword 5: :
Occupational Therapy
Keyword 6: :
Healthy Lifestyle
Introduction :
Lifestyle Medicine (LM) offers evidence-based guidelines for healthy living, aligning with the Occupational Therapy (OT) goal of promoting health and well-being. However, psychiatric inpatients often experience avolition, a lack of motivation that hinders engagement in purposeful activity. To address this, a pilot LM programme utilizing Motivational Interviewing (MI) principles and additional Occupational Engagement (OE) was implemented to build inpatients’ readiness for healthy lifestyle change and reinforce the application of LM.
Objectives :
1. To evaluate the programme on promoting inpatients’ health knowledge and confidence for healthy lifestyle change using LM and MI strategies. 2. To determine if additional OE reinforces practical application in LM and further reduces depressive symptoms.
Methodology :
This pilot programme recruited male psychiatric inpatients from August to December 2025 (N = 23). Firstly, all patients attended two classroom-based LM sessions. Secondly, a subgroup of suitable patients (n = 13) from the programme was arranged to participate in OE sessions in the Sensorium Garden of PYNEH (OE Group), while the remaining patients (n = 10) completed the classroom-based LM sessions only (Classroom Group). Assessments included the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), a custom-designed "Confidence for Healthy Lifestyle Change" questionnaire, a health knowledge quiz, and a satisfaction survey.
Result & Outcome :
For the total sample (N = 23), a Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that patients’ confidence level in adopting a healthy lifestyle (maximum score = 80) significantly increased from pre-intervention (Mdn = 61.00) to post-intervention (Mdn = 65.00), z = -3.09, p = .002. Similarly, health knowledge quiz scores (maximum score = 10) showed a statistically significant improvement from pre-intervention (Mdn = 7.00) to post-intervention (Mdn = 8.00), z = -3.24, p = .001. Regarding the subgroup comparison, a Mann-Whitney U test indicated that OE Group patients achieved a significantly greater reduction in PHQ-2 scores (n = 13, Mdn change = -1.00) compared to Classroom Group patients (n = 10, Mdn change = 0.00), U = 30.00, z = -2.32, p = .020. The satisfaction survey indicated that 92.3% of the OE Group patients agreed that OE enabled better application of LM. Integrating Lifestyle Medicine with Motivational Interviewing in classroom-based sessions may enhance psychiatric inpatients' health knowledge and confidence. Supplementing this with Occupational Engagement may further reduce depressive symptoms, suggesting that it potentially addresses avolition and helps reinforce application of Lifestyle Medicine.
