Impact of a Culturally Adapted Version of Illness Management and Recovery on Israeli Arabs With Serious Mental Illness.

Abstract

In recent years, there has been growing awareness of the need for cultural adaptation of evidence-based practices, which is essential for successful implementation in diverse cultural contexts. This study investigated the impact of a culturally adapted version of Illness Management and Recovery (IMR), an evidence-based practice developed in the United States, on Israeli Arabs with serious mental illness. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared the outcomes of 86 people who completed the culturally adapted IMR version with outcomes from a matched control group (N=64) who received treatment as usual. Mixed repeated-measures analyses of variance demonstrated significant improvements in the domains of recovery, hope, self-efficacy, and quality of life among those who completed culturally adapted IMR. The culturally adapted Arabic version of IMR for Israeli Arabs was found to generate significant positive improvement. The findings are discussed with emphasis on the importance of cultural adaptation.