{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T17:55:46Z","timestamp":1782496546263,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770249600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":4,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012176","name":"Maudsley Charity","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012176","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>People with serious mental illness (SMI) can experience significant physical health challenges. The Health Champions intervention was developed to support their physical health through using trained volunteers. However, volunteer and patient perspectives on the impact and implementation of this intervention have yet to be understood.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Aims<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To compare the views of patients and volunteers on the Health Champions intervention.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design and setting<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on interviews with 29 study participants. Interviews were carried out either face-to-face, via Microsoft Teams, or by telephone and included 12 patients (6 men and 6\u2009women) and 17 volunteers (the Health Champions) (5 men and 12\u2009women).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Four overarching themes were identified, highlighting both similarities and differences between stakeholders\u2019 perspectives: (1) supporting goal setting; (2) impact on positive lifestyle; (3) experiences and perception of the programme and (4) navigating challenges during the programme. Both groups found the programme to be largely successful, by motivating patients to work towards their physical health goals and facilitating successful matching of patients with volunteers. Volunteers and patients valued good communication with the research team. Though both groups shared some views on the challenges with scheduling and a lack of face-to-face contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, their perceptions on how patients incorporated their health changes during and after the programme, as well as other administrative concerns such as views on the efficacy of journaling and breakdown of roles, differed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The Health Champions intervention was perceived as useful to improve the physical health of patients with SMI. Differences in the views between the two stakeholders may result from their distinct experiences and expectations. Future volunteering programmes should further support the diverse physical health needs of patients with SMI.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-110760","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T13:51:10Z","timestamp":1770299470000},"page":"e110760","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Comparing perspectives of volunteers and patients on the Health Champions intervention in secondary mental healthcare: a qualitative study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5966-5723","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mariana","family":"Pinto da Costa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"},{"name":"South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-4705-6128","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wen Ching Andrea","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuxin","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Scarlett","family":"Spence","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hyeon J","family":"Cho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raymond","family":"Mcgrath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"},{"name":"South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Euan","family":"Sadler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gracie","family":"Tredget","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isobel","family":"Mdudu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fiona","family":"Gaughran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK"},{"name":"Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, England, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7560-8924","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nick","family":"Sevdalis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"},{"name":"Centre for Behavioural and Implementation Science Interventions, National University Hospital, Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ioannis","family":"Bakolis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie","family":"Williams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"},{"name":"School of Communities and Education, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026062610405503000_16.2.e110760.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wilson J . 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