The impact of physical activity on men’s mental health in a forensic secure setting

A prevalent issue within Forensic Secure Units is that Service Users are two to three times more likely to die from cardiovascular diseases (Correll et al., 2017) and have a life expectancy of over ten years lower than the general population (Andersson et al., 2024). An established factor that contributes to this is weight gain. This is highly predictive owing to the sedentary nature of the environment, due to the restrictions of detaining sections (Ma et al., 2021). The literature supported that there was a clear consensus regarding the benefits of physical activity for those with severe mental illness has been heavily researched and reviewed (Martland et al., 2023) however the forensic inpatient population has been overlooked. Considering this literature and patient observations, researchers conducted a pilot study at the Tamarind Forensic Secure Unit. The Physical Activity and Mental Health Awareness pilot study encompasses eight sessions linking different types of exercise to mental and physical health benefits. The group has been jointly facilitated by the senior physical therapist and the psychology department to establish the intricacies between the two fields. Activity workers supported some of the sessions. Pre and post mood and energy level were assessed in order to quantify the benefits of the study and upon the groups completion qualitative data will be gathered from group discussions. We hypothesised that there will be a positive strong correlation between physical activity and improved mental wellbeing.