The perception of 'recovery' by professionals working in a mental health rehabilitation setting.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the 'perception' of recovery by professionals working in a mental health rehabilitation setting in a state mental health service whilst the objectives were to establish their understanding of the subject and what may have improved or hindered the process. No previous national research was found considering this topic and the literature review relied heavily upon studies from other countries. Through the use of a non exploratory, descriptive research design, 63 mental health professionals (nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, social workers, occupational therapists and psychologists) participated in the study by completing a structured self administered 31- item questionnaire, constructed and piloted specifically for this research. These were distributed by a link person within the different clinical areas thus reducing selection bias and increasing anonymity. The results indicated that participants had a positive approach to the recognition of recovery as a way to deal with the delivery of mental health rehabilitation services. Nevertheless, participants were less competent in promoting healthy risk taking with clients. This finding is noteworthy because therapeutic risk taking is regarded as a vital element in clinical recovery especially in rehabilitation settings. Rehabilitation professionals need to motivate and assist clients in recovery by exploring their attitudes and approaches to a recovery model of care. However, the study found that staff emphasized the significance of tailor-made, holistic and multi-disciplinary care plans to meet individual needs Several recommendations were made based on the conclusions of the study. These include increased educational awareness for staff about recovery, more detailed longitudinal research into the topic, including involving clients within the sample, new care planning systems to increase client involvement and more interprofessional collaboration to increase care efficiency and quality.