Recovery houses and peer work in them: a service user’s proposal and agenda for change

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Purpose The purpose of this viewpoint article is to describe the experience of recovery houses and peer work from the perspective of a service user (Ben). The current profile and visibility of recovery houses on mental health wards is low. Indeed, since Ben’s first diagnosis in 2003 and during the last 17 months as a peer worker the importance of recovery houses has not even been mentioned once by staff or service users. It should be noted that this article expresses the view of the first author (Ben) and not the co-author (Matthew). Design/methodology/approach This is also a service user narrative by Ben. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2003 and spent two years in and out of the mental health unit where he is now a peer worker. Ben had a relapse in 2013 for about six months and then attended Ron Coleman’s and Karen Taylor’s Recovery Champions course and their recovery house on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, where he first heard of the recovery approach and which improved Ben’s mental health. Ron and Karen’s organisation is called Working to Recovery. Ben is currently a peer worker on the same unit where he was once a patient and working with the Director of Patient Experience, Matthew Sisto. This article is based on lived experience as a service user and peer worker. Findings This article makes a case for and a case against the proposal to incorporate recovery houses more into the fabric of NHS mental health care as well as a possible alternative to psychiatric units. The main argument in this article is to suggest making recovery houses more mainstream, more of them and more accessible to those currently in traditional mental health units. Currently there are no formal mechanisms of discharge from hospital to recovery houses. Not one person on the wards where I was a patient since 2003 or peer worker in the last 17 months has been discharged to a recovery house. Recovery houses are a therapeutic alternative or complement to traditional psychiatric care. They could also have other potential benefits, such as decreasing bed blocking on psychiatric wards (service users who are well and waiting for accommodation), reducing risk of relapse and remedying the loneliness and isolation that is often faced by service users on discharge to the community (changing from being around a lot of people on the ward to no one and isolation at home). Recovery houses are in short supply and in need of scaling up (more of them). There is the need to increase the referral and accessibility of recovery houses for service users on mental health wards. Currently recovery houses offer short-term support, only a matter of weeks or months. They would be better if they offered longer periods and also ongoing support. Recovery houses would also benefit people with mental illness, their carers and others if they incorporated elements of peer support. Originality/value Recovery houses and peer support are relatively new approaches in the mental health journeys of people with mental illness. This article is important because it makes a case for/ case against and addresses the feasibility of incorporating the recovery approach and recovery houses into the quite antiquated and slow to change fabric of the conventional NHS. It considers traditional and alternative pathways of care and steps for change to make recovery houses more mainstream and accessible to NHS psychiatric patients (and even perhaps to replace conventional psychiatric care in the long run).