As the demand for recovery-oriented mental health services grows, so does the need for a shared understanding of what “recovery” truly means.
A new study published in Social Science & Medicine represents one of the first international efforts to establish consensus among mental health professionals about the core components of recovery. Their goal is to investigate whether professionals align with the definitions developed by users and survivors, and to identify the key elements that should shape recovery-oriented services.
Within the psy-disciplines, recovery has often been narrowly defined in clinical terms, focused on symptom reduction and functional improvement. In contrast, personal recovery, grounded in service user and survivor movements, emphasizes agency, meaning, and quality of life. This misalignment can lead to practices that fail to meet the diverse needs of service users.
To address this, Georgina Guilera and colleagues from the University of Barcelona used a three-round Delphi method, engaging 78 recovery-oriented professionals across the six World Health Organization regions – Africa, Americas, South-East Asia, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific – to identify shared definitions, progress indicators, and factors that facilitate and hinder recovery.
Key findings include:
“Key indicators emphasized agency, empowerment, user safety, and informed decision-making. Facilitators included the promotion of self-determination, a holistic approach within services, and the integration of peer support. Social exclusion emerged as the most significant obstacle to recovery. This study provides an international consensus on the key elements of recovery in mental health from the perspective of recovery-oriented professionals, offering insights for implementing interventions, developing recovery-oriented services, and refining measurement instruments.”
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