The role of recovery colleges in supporting personal goal achievement.

Abstract

This study examined the types of goals set, the degree to which goals were achieved, and the factors influencing goal attainment for participants in a Recovery College, a recovery-based mental health education program that uses peer learning advisors to facilitate individual student learning plans. Method: Students of the Recovery College set baseline goals that were rated in terms of importance and difficulty in line with the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) framework and reviewed at follow-up points. Goals were reviewed to determine areas of priority and an analysis of goal attainment was conducted using multinomial logit regression analysis. Results: Sixty-four students recorded their goals. The most common goal areas identified related to education, socialization, physical health, mental health, and employment. Seventy percent of goals were fully or partially achieved with goals rated as having a lower difficulty more likely to be achieved. Conclusion and Implications for Practice: Recovery College is a program model that can effectively support personal goal achievement, a recommended indicator of personal recovery and program success. The GAS proved to be a useful instrument for measuring goal setting and attainment in students' recovery journeys and peer learning advisors were effective in facilitating this process. The setting and achievement of physical health goals is of clinical significance. Impact and ImplicationsThis study builds on limited published evidence demonstrating the important role that Recovery Colleges play in supporting participants to identify and achieve their personal goals. Further, it highlights the contribution that peer workers can make to this process, in keeping with the coproduction philosophy of the Recovery College model.

Recovery Education for Adults Transitioning From Homelessness: A Longitudinal Outcome Evaluation

“…These finding suggest that a minimum level of REC participation may be needed to achieve key recovery outcomes. These findings support and are supported by a recent Australian study ( 41 ), in which attending a higher percentage of REC courses was associated with goal achievement. The post-hoc analysis further identified that socio-demographic characteristics were associated with the extent of participation.…”

Community‐based social interventions for people with severe mental illness: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of recent evidence

“…Five papers evaluating supported education were identified [46][47][48][49][50] , all of which focused on recovery colleges: a recoverybased mental health education program that uses peer learning advisors to facilitate individual student learning plans 48 and where students are people with lived experience of mental health problems. Two of the studies were quantitative 48,49 and three employed mixed methods 46,47,50 . Three were conducted in the UK 46,49,50 and two in Australia 47,48 .…”

“…Two of the studies were quantitative 48,49 and three employed mixed methods 46,47,50 . Three were conducted in the UK 46,49,50 and two in Australia 47,48 .…”

“…The majority of studies that investigated peer-led/supported interventions reported positive findings, including four randomized trials [97][98][99][100] . The addition of peer workers in the delivery of some of the other social interventions included in our review was also commonly noted, including as staff of recovery colleges [46][47][48][49][50] and co-facilitators of family interventions [90][91][92][93] , providing knowledge and experience distinct from that of health professionals. Peer involvement was noted to be particularly helpful for people in building confidence and social connections 47,50 , gaining a better understanding of their mental health issues 96 , and improving engagement with mental health services 95 .…”

Assessing and promoting the use of implementation intentions in clinical practice

“…At the initial session, the therapist usually, implicitly or explicitly, asks the client to report their goals with regards to treatment (e.g., symptom reduction) and/or wider personal goals (e.g., to have a better relationship with their children; Michalak & Holtforth, 2006). Goal setting has been associated with goal attainment (Webb & Sheeran, 2006) and goal attainment has, in turn, been associated with positive emotions and wellbeing (Wiese, 2007), better therapeutic outcomes (Tryon, 2018;Wollburg & Braukhaus, 2010), and higher personal recovery (Sommer et al, 2019) . However, setting a goal is a necessary but often insufficient step to achieving the desired outcome and research typically finds a considerable gap between intentions (or self-instructions to perform particular behaviors or to obtain certain outcomes, Triandis, 1980) and behavior (Sheeran & Webb, 2016).…”