Recovery Colleges; how effective are they?

Abstract

Purpose Recovery Colleges are education-based mental health resources, utilising practitioner and lived experience expertise, promoting skills to enhance student independence. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of engagement with a Recovery College in Northern England on student wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach Feedback questionnaires were analysed from 89 students attending the Recovery College. Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMBS) and “Empower Flower” (a measure of personal resources) data for 56 students were compared pre- and post-attendance at courses. Findings The SWEMBS and Empower Flower indicated improvements in wellbeing and personal resources pre- to post-attendance at Recovery College courses. Satisfaction with the service was high. Students saw the service as unique, accepting and enabling. Students noted they developed a sense of hope, confidence and aspirations. They related this to practical changes, e.g. increasing work-related activity and decreasing service use. Research limitations/implications This research suggests that there is a need for further evaluation of the unique contribution that Recovery Colleges can make to mental wellbeing, and the mechanisms involved in promoting the process of recovery. Practical implications The Recovery College may be a cost-effective way to provide a supportive recovery-orientated environment which promotes students’ ability to build self-confidence and skills, enabling them to connect with others and progress towards independence and valued goals. This complements more traditional mental health services. Originality/value This paper reports on an area of mental health development where there is very limited research, adding valuable data to the literature.

Recovery college as a transition space in the journey towards recovery: An Australian qualitative study

“…RCs are in their infancy. However, available results from a growing number of evaluations are positive regarding improved wellness, reduced feelings of isolation, improved clinical and well‐being indicators, reduction in acute and community mental health service use, achievement of personal goals and hopefulness for the future, as well as meeting course expectations (Ebrahim, Glascott, Mayer, & Gair, ; Bourne, Meddings, & Whittington, ; Jay, Macadam, Gardner, & Mahboub, ; Meddings, McGregor, Roeg, & Shepherd, 2015; Rinaldi, Marland, & Wybourn, ). The transformative nature of RCs for clinical staff and mental health services – by changing attitudes toward mental health recovery and the value of the lived experience knowledge base – has also been reported (Sommer, Gill, & Stein‐Parbury, ).…”

Mental health practitioner experiences of engaging with service users in community mental health settings: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative evidence

“…Further developments have seen a shift towards generic referral to specialist community services via a single point of access to ensure timely, appropriate, recovery‐based care (Department of Health, 2019). Moreover, some National Health Service (NHS) Trusts have developed Recovery Colleges to compliment community mental health services by actively engaging people with lived experiences of mental health problems in the co‐production of recovery‐based interventions (Ebrahim, Glascott, Mayer, & Gair, 2018; Gilburt, 2015).…”

Recovery College influences upon service users: a Recovery Academy exploration of employment and service use

“…This has also been evidenced in the literature whereby those who attended Recovery College courses went on to obtain meaningful employment (Rinaldi and Wybourn, 2011; Rennison et al , 2014). Emerging research also suggests individuals who engage with Recovery Colleges may also perceive less need for support from mental health services (Ebrahim et al , 2018). Recovery College course attendance has been found to reduce use of community services (Meddings et al , 2015, Rinaldi and Wybourn, 2011) and decrease the number of hospitalisations (Bourne et al , 2017).…”