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Ninety seven outpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) were randomly assigned to the Walk, Address Sensations, Learn About Exercise, Cue Exercise Behavior for SSDs (WALC-S), a motivational intervention designed to increase exercise in SSDs (n =48), or a time and attention control group (TAC, n =49). WALC-S and TAC groups met weekly for four weeks before a 16 week walking program was offered to all subjects. We compared the exercise attendance, persistence and compliance of the groups during the walking program. WALC-S recipients attended more walking groups, for more weeks and walked more minutes than those receiving TAC. Percent of WALC-S or TAC groups attended was significantly correlated with overall attendance (r = 0.38, p = 0.001) and persistence (r = −.29, p = 0.01), as well as number of minutes walked. This study is among the first to examine interventions designed to enhance exercise motivation in SSDs.

Nurse anthropologist, Madeleine Leininger, developed the culture care theory and ethnonursing research method to help researchers study transcultural human care phenomena and discover the knowledge nurses need to provide care in an increasingly multicultural world. The authors propose that the ethnonursing method can be useful for research that addresses providing care in other disciplines, including education, administration, physical, occupational, and speech therapy, social work, pharmacy, medicine, and other disciplines in which research findings have implications for human care and health. The authors discuss the culture care theory and describe the ethnonursing research method's enablers, data analysis phases, and qualitative evaluation criteria. The theory is presented as a guide for using research findings to design culturally competent and congruent care to promote wellbeing among diverse people, groups, communities, and institutions. Resources include a reference list of key source publications, a discussion of exemplar studies, and samples of a theory-based, open-ended interview guide and data coding system.

Despite the well known mental and physical health benefits of exercise, persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders remain sedentary. While the exercise barriers (i.e., lack of motivation, poor concentration, sedative effects of medication, poverty, and lack of access to exercise education/programs) of persons with SSDs are numerous, lack of motivation is considered foremost among them. Exercise interventions have been shown to improve exercise behavior, but there is a need for longitudinal documentation of physical activity after interventions conclude. This pilot study describes the physical activity level of 22 persons with SSDs 14 to 34 (mean 22) months after the conclusion of an exercise intervention provided in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Eighteen months after the RCT, 22 participants wore pedometers daily for one week without altering their activity. Experimental participants walked more steps and covered more distance on average than control participants on six of the seven days. This pilot study is among the first to document the physical activity level of persons with SSDs after exercise intervention. While our findings confirm the low activity level of persons with SSDs reported by others, experimental participants demonstrated higher activity levels than controls on most days. Future studies should increase the sample size and recruit participants from multiple sites to enhance power and generalizability.