Background: Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) is a curriculum-based rehabilitation program for people with severe mental illness with the short-term aim of improving illness self-management and the long-term aim of helping people achieve clinical and personal recovery.MethodParticipants with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders were recruited from three community mental health centers in the Capital Region of Denmark and randomized to receive group-based IMR and treatment as usual or only the usual intervention. All outcomes were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and the one-year follow-up. Long-term outcomes were categorized according to clinical recovery (i.e., symptoms, global functioning, and hospitalization) and personal recovery (i.e., hope and personal agency). Generalized linear mixed model regression analyses were used in the intent-to-treat analysis.ResultsA total of 198 participants were included. No significant differences were found between the IMR and control groups in the Global Assessment of Functioning one year after the intervention, nor were there significant differences in symptoms, number of hospital admissions, emergency room visits, or outpatient treatment.ConclusionThe present IMR trial showed no significant effect on clinical and personal recovery at the one-year follow-up. Together with the results of other IMR studies, the present study indicates that the effect of IMR on symptom severity is unclear, which raises questions regarding the impact of IMR on functioning. Additionally, IMR did not affect personal recovery. Although more research is needed, the results indicate that the development of other interventions should be considered to help people with severe mental illness achieve a better level of functioning and personal recovery.Trial registrationTrial registered at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01361698).

IPS and competitive work have an impact on personal recovery, may influence work functioning and decrease depressive symptoms, but do not seem to have an impact on psychotic symptoms.

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Background: The Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) program is designed to support people diagnosed with severe mental illness in developing tailored illness-management skills and to pursue personal goals. Although IMR is a goal-oriented program, little is know about the participants’ experience of goal-setting as part of IMR. Aim: To describe participants’ lived experience of personal goal-setting as part of the Illness Management and Recovery program (IMR). Method: A descriptive, phenomenological research design was employed with individual interviews. Results: IMR helped the participants break down their personal goals into manageable short-term goals. The main themes were as follows: ‘We were guided to set clearer and specific goals in IMR’, ‘We were encouraged to pursue our personal goals in IMR’ and ‘We were encouraged and supported to resume work on our goals when we stopped making progress’. The findings emphasise goal-setting in IMR as a means to instilling hope for the future and work on goals. Conclusions: The participants learned to identify, articulate and initiate work towards short- and long-term goals when guided by the instructor and supported by peers in the IMR group. Goal-setting is a useful method for breaking down personal recovery goals into a practical short-term goals and motivating participants to pursue them. The findings indicate goal-setting is an important part of the IMR-program, but suggest that flexibility in goal-setting is needed, especially in the time required to achieve personal goals.