Refocus on Recovery

REFOCUS was a multi-site NIHR-funded randomised controlled trial that developed and tested a mental health recovery intervention (Slade et al, 2015). A qualitative process evaluation was used to inform the implementation process and overall experience of the intervention (Leamy et al, 2014; Wallace et al, 2016).

As part of this work, a conceptual framework for personal recovery in mental health was developed (Leamy et al, 2011). Alongside, an analysis of recovery-oriented guidance led to the development of a conceptual framework for recovery-oriented practice in mental health care (Le Boutillier et al, 2011). This has been used to inform practice guidelines (e.g. www.imroc.org) and is incorporated into policy in Australia and Canada. The conceptual framework is also used to provide a structure for bench-marking services and has informed the development of a measure of staff support for recovery (Williams et al, 2015).

A new theory of staff perspectives on supportung recovery was also generated to underpin recovery-related research. The qualitative study explored the views of 97 participants using grounded theory and led to developments that help staff support people’s recovery (Le Boutillier et al, 2015a). The theory was extended by conducting a systematic review and narrative synthesis of staff understanding of recovery as applied to practice. The synthesis revealed a previously implicit translation of recovery within mental health services, by identifying the concept of ‘service-defined recovery’ (Le Boutillier et al, 2015b).