Improving heart health for people with serious mental illness in community mental health clinics

Reducing disparities in cardiovascular health in community mental health settings: optimizing implementation strategies

NIH-funded research Johns Hopkins University · NIH-11187063

This project will bring proven heart‑health programs into mental health clinics to help people with serious mental illness manage blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking.

Quick facts

Grant typeNIH-funded research
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionJohns Hopkins University NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Baltimore, United States)
Project IDNIH-11187063 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

This project works with community mental health clinics (behavioral health homes) to bring proven heart‑health programs into regular care and tailor them for people with serious mental illness and cognitive challenges. Researchers will work with clinics to try different ways to help providers adopt two programs called IDEAL and Life Goals so patients can get blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking support where they already receive mental health care. An early phase will refine the best approaches and a later phase will expand them across multiple clinics to reach more people.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Adults with serious mental illness who receive care at community behavioral health clinics and have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or who smoke are the ideal candidates.

Not a fit: People without serious mental illness or those not connected to participating mental health clinics are unlikely to be included or benefit directly from this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could help people with serious mental illness get effective heart‑risk care in their mental health clinics and reduce heart disease and premature death.

How similar studies have performed: Some prior programs (IDEAL and Life Goals) have reduced cardiovascular risk in people with serious mental illness, though behavioral health homes have improved access without consistently improving risk factors until now.

Where this research is happening

Baltimore, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions Cardiovascular Diseases
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.