NAMI Ask the Expert: Achieving Ideal Heart Health in People With Mental Illness

Course overview

This course, based on the Ask the Expert webinar series by NAMI, reviews the cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden among people living with mental illness and highlights practical, evidence-based strategies to reduce risk. Topics include epidemiology of premature mortality, modifiable risks (tobacco use, diet, physical inactivity, obesity), and integrated interventions that have demonstrated clinically meaningful risk reduction in community mental health settings. The course, with an intended audience of social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors, presents actionable counseling points and team-based care coordination approaches that translate research into routine practice to improve heart health outcomes for clients with serious mental illness.