Activation in persons with mental health disorders: An integrative review
Authors: Keen Alyson , Lu Yvonne , Oruche Ukamaka M. , Mazurenko Olena , Draucker Claire Burke 
Published: July 2021

Accessible Summary

What is known on the subject?

Evidence indicates a strong relationship between patient activation (i.e. confidence, knowledge and skills to self‐manage health) and positive health behaviours and outcomes in a variety of clinical populations.

Because persons with mental health disorders experience significant disease burden but often underutilize mental health treatment or experience poor treatment outcomes, they would likely benefit from increases in activation.

No systematic reviews have been conducted to summarize and synthesize research on patient activation in persons with mental health disorders.

What this paper adds to existing knowledge?

To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive review to identify factors associated with activation and interventions that have shown to be effective in persons with mental health disorders.

This integrative review indicates that better health status, less depression, positive health attitudes and behaviours, and higher quality therapeutic relationships may be associated with higher levels of activation in persons with mental health disorders.

This review also indicates that a variety of interventions, most notably educational programs, are effective in increasing levels of patient activation in persons with mental health disorders.

What are the implications for practice?

Psychiatric mental health nurses and other clinicians should consider routine assessment of patient activation to inform individualized treatment plans for their clients.

Clinicians should aim to form high‐quality therapeutic relationships with clients as a way to promote higher levels of activation.

Interventions that have been found to be effective in improving activation could be offered in a variety of mental health settings.

Introduction

Patient activation is understanding one’s role in the healthcare process and having confidence, knowledge, and skills to self‐manage one’s health and health care. Researchers have begun to investigate patient activation in persons with mental health disorders, but no systematic reviews have been conducted to summarize and synthesize this research. For psychiatric mental health nurses and other clinicians to develop strategies to increase patient activation in this population, more information is needed about factors associated with activation and interventions that increase activation.

Review Questions

(1) What factors are associated with levels of activation in persons diagnosed with mental health disorders? (2) What interventions have shown to be effective at increasing levels of activation in persons diagnosed with mental health disorders?

Method

A 5‐stage integrative review as described by Whittemore & Knafl.

Results

Twenty‐nine articles were included in the review. Ten provided correlations between activation and other factors, and 20 examined the effects of interventions on activation. Some studies revealed significant correlations between a variety of health and treatment‐related factors, and others revealed that some interventions, most notably educational programs, were shown to increase activation.

Discussion

The findings of this comprehensive review can inform psychiatric mental health nurses and other clinicians in developing strategies to increase activation in the patients with whom they work. More research is needed to provide a deeper understanding of the role of activation in the recovery and treatment of persons with mental health disorders.

Implications for Practice

Psychiatric nurses and other clinicians should assess for patient activation and incorporate strategies to increase levels of activation in patients in their practice. Positive therapeutic relationships likely enhance activation in persons with mental health disorders.