Exploring Mental Health Consumer Perceptions and Experiences of Goal-Setting With the Physical Health Nurse Consultant.
Tracy Tabvuma, Robert Stanton, Ya-Ling Huang and 1 others
PMID 40765241WHAT IT FOUND
Consumers with psychosis described goal-setting with a physical health nurse as effective when it felt empowering, not prescriptive.
They valued extracting their own goals, adapting them when symptoms or meds shifted, and having written plans for accountability.
Key findings
01Participants valued an empowering approach where the nurse extracted goals from them rather than suggesting them, prioritizing autonomy and choice.
02Consumers co-developed both learning-based goals (planning how to change) and performance-based goals (specific task outcomes), often oscillating between them based on capacity and medication side effects.
03Barriers to sustaining health goals included mental health symptom fluctuation, medication side effects causing low energy, and hospitalization limiting food choices.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used convenience sampling from a single service in Australia, so findings may not transfer to other mental health contexts. Participants were English-speaking adults with psychosis, excluding other demographics and diagnoses. No demographic data were collected to protect privacy, so it is unclear if the sample represented the wider consumer population. The study reports perceptions and experiences, not clinical outcomes or behavior change efficacy.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the reported 'positive impacts' on health and social functioning as evidence that this goal-setting model causes clinical improvement. These are consumer perceptions gathered in a small qualitative study, not measured outcomes from a controlled trial.