Hennepin County Medical Center and Nice Ride Minnesota are partnering to offer patients with mental illness free use of bikes throughout the summer.
Launched in 2016, the program aims to help people with mental illness build trust, develop good habits and support a healthy lifestyle, program leaders say. The partnership comes as a growing body of research shows that physical fitness can help people with mental health issues.
"Our actual mission is to ensure that every person who lives in the state of Minnesota has a higher quality of life," said Tina Cho, access director for Nice Ride Minnesota. "We believe that having access to bikes increases quality of life and increases the quality of the place that you live in."
Americans with mental illness die on average 25 years younger than those without mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Increasingly, research shows that physical health is tied to mental health, and that people with mental health problems tend to have the same physical problems as the average population but are affected more severely.
Those with severe anxiety and depression, for instance, are more likely to suffer from physical health problems such as high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Exercise is something that can be prescribed as a treatment for these conditions, said Amber Courtney, an occupational therapist at HCMC who specializes in mental health and who helps lead the program.
"Medication alone often isn't enough to change people's circumstance or condition," Courtney said. "It often takes some kind of physical activity to support their medication."
