Abstract
BackgroundOver the past ten years the promotion of recovery has become a stated aim of mental health policies within a number of English speaking countries, including Scotland. Implementation of a recovery approach involves a significant reorientation of mental health services and practices, which often poses significant challenges for reformers. This article examines how four key technologies of recovery have assisted in the move towards the creation of a recovery-oriented mental health system in Scotland.MethodsDrawing on documentary analysis and a series of interviews we examine the construction and implementation of four key recovery 'technologies' as they have been put to use in Scotland: recovery narratives, the Scottish Recovery Indicator (SRI), Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) and peer support.ResultsOur findings illuminate how each of these technologies works to instantiate, exemplify and disseminate a 'recovery orientation' at different sites within the mental health system in order to bring about a 'recovery oriented' mental health system. They also enable us to identify some of the factors that facilitate or hinder the effectiveness of those technologies in bringing about a change in how mental health services are delivered in Scotland. These finding provide a basis for some general reflections on the utility of 'recovery technologies' to implement a shift towards recovery in mental health services in Scotland and elsewhere.ConclusionsOur analysis of this process within the Scottish context will be valuable for policy makers and service coordinators wishing to implement recovery values within their own national mental health systems.
Highlights
Over the past ten years the promotion of recovery has become a stated aim of mental health policies within a number of English speaking countries, including Scotland
Some spoke of recovery as a process or journey, leading toward a shift in consciousness and practice, while some defined it as a value or set of values that centred around choice and the centrality of the individual (Practitioner 1; Practitioner 2; NGO 1; NGO 2; Community 1; Community 2)
This focus on individuals and their personal journeys was in turn seen to imply that the implementation of recovery in the mental health system necessitates a radical restructuring of modes of treatment, hierarchies of knowledge, and the way services relate to service users (Practitioner 1; NGO 1; NGO 2)
Summary
Over the past ten years the promotion of recovery has become a stated aim of mental health policies within a number of English speaking countries, including Scotland. The promotion of recovery has been adopted as a declared aim of mental health policy in a number of countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States [1,2,3]. The implementation of these goals has often proved difficult, and critics have argued that in many cases the adoption of recovery in policy discourse has not been matched by a change in mental health practice Implementing recovery in practice remains a significant policy challenge, even in countries that profess a commitment to recovery as a general policy aim
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