Telling the Story of Keeping the Body in Mind (KBIM)

The Keeping the Body in Mind (KBIM) Program is recognised internationally as the gold standard for integrating physical health care with mental health treatment and support. Now, the history of the ground-breaking program is finally being told in Keeping the Body in Mind: The evolution of a lifestyle program for mental health consumers.

Launching the publication today, Professor Jackie Curtis, the Executive Director of Mindgardens Neuroscience Network, said KBIM “began 20 years ago in response to evidence: the evidence of our own eyes as young people taking what were then new-generation antipsychotic medications rapidly gained weight and lost fitness, with enormous impacts on their quality of life.”

“Today, it is widely accepted that mental health services should monitor the physical health of their clients and intervene when warranted. The evidence is absolutely compelling, and it is disappointing that these interventions are still offered insufficiently and inconsistently in Australia and elsewhere.”

About the Keeping the Body in Mind (KBIM) Program:

Keeping the Body in Mind was established in the Bondi Junction Community Mental Health Centre and is now implemented across the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. The core KBIM Program employs dietitians, exercise physiologists, nurses and peer workers to support clients to improve their nutrition and engage in physical activity. It has been highly influential internationally, with programs around the world based on its core principles.

About Keeping the Body in Mind(gardens):

KBIM has been expanded by Mindgardens as part of its Psychosis Flagship through a range of pilot sub-programs, each designed to tackle a different physical challenge faced by consumers, including:

• Keep Quitting in Mind (KQIM) – Smoking and vaping support for people living with severe mental illness
• KBIM Primary – a primary care version of the KBIM service offered through the UNSW Lifestyle Clinic in Randwick.
• KBIM Vaccines – a program run by peer workers and nurses that offers opportunistic vaccination.
• Addi Moves – a supportive gym and exercise service for people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds

The report chronicles the hard work and dedication of the clinicians, researchers and lived experience representatives who worked through numerous challenges to develop this program into the life-changing and award-winning success it has become.

In his foreword, Dr Murray Wright, NSW Chief Psychiatrist, says that “This is not just about KBIM: it is a tale that illustrates what can be done with determination, passion, patience, and optimism, and in collaboration with consumers, carers, clinical colleagues, policy makers and funders.”

“It is intended to celebrate success, and to inspire others to continue looking for ways to overcome the barriers to improving health outcomes for mental health consumers.”

Read Keeping the Body in Mind: The evolution of a lifestyle program for mental health consumers.