Whole Person Mental Health – Practical lifestyle strategies to improve mental and physical health in severe mental illness
A webinar by the EPA Task Force on Whole Person Mental Health
On the occasion of the World Mental Health Day, the EPA is pleased to announce the webinar “Whole Person Mental Health – Practical Lifestyle Strategies to Improve Mental and Physical Health in Severe Mental Illness,” which will take place on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, from 16:30 to 18:00 CEST. This webinar is organised by the EPA Task Force on Whole Person Mental Health.
DETAILS
- Title: Whole Person Mental Health – Practical Lifestyle Strategies to Improve Mental and Physical Health in Severe Mental Illness
- Date: Tuesday, 6 October 2026
- Time: 16:30 – 18:00 CEST
- Platform: Zoom
- Registrations: Open
Key learning objectives
The aim of this webinar is to equip mental health clinicians and service planners with evidence-based strategies to reduce cardiometabolic risk and improve overall outcomes for people with SMI.
By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:
- Summarise transdiagnostic mental health benefits of physical activity and understand how to prescribe PA safely and feasibly in SMI.
- Apply lifestyle interventions targeting physical comorbidities in SMI, including behaviour-change techniques and service models.
- Recognise early multimorbidity patterns in psychiatric disorders and integrate screening/monitoring pathways.
PROGRAMME
16:30 – 16:35 | Prof. Andrea Fiorillo – Welcome and introduction
16:35 – 16:50 | Prof. Davy Vancampfort – Physical activity as a transdiagnostic treatment in SMI: Evidence to everyday practice
16:50 – 17:05 | Prof. Joseph Firth – Lifestyle interventions for physical comorbidities in SMI: What works and how to deliver it
17:05 – 17:20 | Prof. Ivona Šimunović Filipčić – Early onset of multimorbidity in psychiatric disorders: screening, trajectories and treatment outcomes
17:20 – 17:35 | Prof. Dan Siskind – GLP-1RA receptor agonists and metformin in mental health care: Practical, patient-centred use (recorded presentation)
17:35 – 17:55 | Q&A Session
17:55 – 18:00 | Prof. Andrea Fiorillo – Conclusions
Abstract:
People living with SMI have a life expectancy of 15-20 years shorter than the general population, which is mainly due to the presence of severe cardiometabolic diseases. This 90-minute, clinically focused webinar brings together international experts to translate the latest evidence on physical activity, lifestyle interventions, early multimorbidity, and pharmacologic metabolic support (GLP-1RA, metformin) into practical actions for mental health services. Experts involved in this webinar are all members of the EPA task force on Whole Person Health, which aims to promote integration of mental and physical health through lifestyle interventions to reduce multimorbidity and premature mortality among people with severe mental illness.
Target audience
Psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, psychologists, GP/primary care clinicians working with SMI, exercise physiologists, dietitians, occupational therapists, service managers, and researchers.
Moderators
- Prof. Andrea Fiorillo, EPA President, Professor of Psychiatry and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy – Biography
Speakers
- Prof. Ivona Šimunović Filipčić, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia – Biography
- Prof. Dan Siskind, Professor of Psychiatry, NHMRC Emerging Lead Fellow, PA Southside Clinical Unit Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland, Australia – Biography
- Prof. Davy Vancampfort, Associate Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium – Biography
- Prof. Joseph Firth, Professor of Psychology & Mental Health, University of Manchester, United Kingdom – Biography