TY - JOUR
T1 - Recovery college as a transition space in the journey towards recovery
T2 - An Australian qualitative study
AU - Muir-Cochrane, Eimear
AU - Lawn, Sharon
AU - Coveney, John
AU - Zabeen, Sara
AU - Kortman, Brenton
AU - Oster, Candice
PY - 2019/12
Y1 - 2019/12
N2 - Recovery colleges are formal learning programs that aim to support people with a lived experience of mental illness. In this study, we aimed to explore the experiences of participants in a pilot recovery college that opened in Adelaide, South Australia, in 2016. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted involving interviews with learners (n = 8) and focus groups with lived experience facilitators (course facilitators with a lived experience of mental illness, n = 5), Clinician facilitators (mental health service staff facilitators, n = 4), and care coordinators (staff providing case management support, n = 5). Three main themes (hope, identity, and the recovery college as a transition space) and two subthemes (recovery college experience and outcomes) were identified. The results showed that the recovery college provided a transition space for shifting learners' identities from patient to student, facilitated by the experiences and outcomes of the recovery college, providing hope for the future. This study highlights the importance of providing mentally healthy and non-stigmatizing learning environments to promote and cement recovery for people with a lived experience of mental illness.
AB - Recovery colleges are formal learning programs that aim to support people with a lived experience of mental illness. In this study, we aimed to explore the experiences of participants in a pilot recovery college that opened in Adelaide, South Australia, in 2016. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted involving interviews with learners (n = 8) and focus groups with lived experience facilitators (course facilitators with a lived experience of mental illness, n = 5), Clinician facilitators (mental health service staff facilitators, n = 4), and care coordinators (staff providing case management support, n = 5). Three main themes (hope, identity, and the recovery college as a transition space) and two subthemes (recovery college experience and outcomes) were identified. The results showed that the recovery college provided a transition space for shifting learners' identities from patient to student, facilitated by the experiences and outcomes of the recovery college, providing hope for the future. This study highlights the importance of providing mentally healthy and non-stigmatizing learning environments to promote and cement recovery for people with a lived experience of mental illness.
KW - lived experience
KW - mental health
KW - qualitative
KW - recovery
KW - recovery college
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071934917&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/nhs.12637
DO - 10.1111/nhs.12637
M3 - Article
C2 - 31495060
AN - SCOPUS:85071934917
SN - 1442-2018
VL - 21
SP - 523
EP - 530
JO - Nursing & Health Sciences
JF - Nursing & Health Sciences
IS - 4
ER -