Meals, Mindfulness, & Moving Forward: A feasibility study to a multi-modal lifestyle approach in early psychosis

The primary aim was to demonstrate adherence to a novel 6-week lifestyle intervention program ("Meals, Mindfulness, & Moving Forward" [M³ ]) designed to help improve lifestyle practices of youth with a history of at least 1 psychotic episode.

M³ used a non-equivalent control group design involving clients from a community early intervention program. Seventeen individuals in the active M³ program and 16 controls were assessed for secondary outcomes at baseline, 6-weeks, and 12-weeks (6 weeks post-intervention) on cardiometabolic and symptomatic outcomes.

The program met its primary aim with 88% (15/17) of participants meeting adherence criteria. Compared with the controls, M³ participants showed significant improvement in positive psychotic symptoms (P = .002).

This pilot study showed that young people involved in a community early intervention program adhered to an activity-based lifestyle program which included mindfulness meditation, yoga and nutrition education, warranting further evaluation with a larger sample size.