The Process of Developing a Co-design and Co-delivery Initiative for Mental Health Programming

Abstract

In a field traditionally fraught with pessimistic expectations and lower client satisfaction, recovery in mental health care is a beacon of light guiding practitioners and clients alike toward a more hopeful, optimistic future where possibility exists. An important component of the recovery model is the inclusion of service users in the management of their illness, developing wellness, and treatment planning. However, recovery in mental health is a relatively young theoretical and philosophical approach: efforts to shift from philosophy and theory to actual system change within the Canadian mental healthcare system have proven challenging. In our experience implementing a recovery-oriented program to support service users to co-design and co-deliver wellness groups, we learned about our hospital’s readiness for transformational system change and the specific needs with regard to this type of change. The purpose of this article is to describe our process, and share our successes and obstacles in order to inspire and support others who are interested in attempting to incorporate recovery-oriented practices into their settings.