Conceptual framework for personal recovery in mental health: systematic review and narrative synthesis

• Published in: British journal of psychiatry Vol. 199; no. 6; pp. 445 - 452
• Main Authors: Leamy, Mary, Bird, Victoria, Boutillier, Clair Le, Williams, Julie, Slade, Mike
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.12.2011
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Attitude to Health; Bibliographic data bases; Black people; Collectivism; Concept Formation; Cultural sensitivity; Empowerment; Ethnic groups; Ethnicity; Female; Health services; Hope; Humans; Identity; Male; Meaning; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - rehabilitation; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mental illness; Minority groups; Minority Groups - psychology; Models, Psychological; Narratives; Optimism; Psychiatry; Recovery; Recovery of Function; Research Design; Review article; Reviews; Self Concept; Social sciences; Spirituality; Stigma; Subject heading schemes; Systematic review; Transtheoretical model; United Kingdom > UK; England
• ISSN: 0007-1250; 1472-1465; 1472-1465
• DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.083733

No systematic review and narrative synthesis on personal recovery in mental illness has been undertaken. To synthesise published descriptions and models of personal recovery into an empirically based conceptual framework. Systematic review and modified narrative synthesis. Out of 5208 papers that were identified and 366 that were reviewed, a total of 97 papers were included in this review. The emergent conceptual framework consists of: (a) 13 characteristics of the recovery journey; (b) five recovery processes comprising: connectedness; hope and optimism about the future; identity; meaning in life; and empowerment (giving the acronym CHIME); and (c) recovery stage descriptions which mapped onto the transtheoretical model of change. Studies that focused on recovery for individuals of Black and minority ethnic (BME) origin showed a greater emphasis on spirituality and stigma and also identified two additional themes: culturally specific facilitating factors and collectivist notions of recovery. The conceptual framework is a theoretically defensible and robust synthesis of people's experiences of recovery in mental illness. This provides an empirical basis for future recovery-oriented research and practice.