Recovery Narratives Project
Exploring the meaning of recovery through the experiences of people living with severe mental illness.
This is a qualitative research project exploring recovery from mental illness. Evidence tells us that the process of recovery means different things to different people and involves different things for different people. There is a growing body of evidence exploring service users’ accounts of the recovery process and how various factors are interpreted and understood in the person’s life.
This project builds on empirical evidence of personal testimonies through an innovative methodology, placing people with personal experience of mental illness in active roles, trained and supported as involvement researchers.
In 2008 a team of seven involvement researchers conducted 48 in-depth interviews with other people with personal experience with mental illness. The involvement researchers' reflexive insight into their own and others' recovery journeys is explored through an interpretive approach to data analysis. The full research report Getting back into the world: reflections on lived experiences of recovery and a booklet summarising the findings and with practical learning points Recovery insights: learning from lived experience can be downloaded from the link below.
Project Researchers
Seven Involvement Researchers: Alice Hicks, Peter Mailey, Roger Smith, Ruth Sayers, Terry Bowyer and two anonymous.
Collaborators
MDF – The Bipolar Organisation
Links
Full research report: Getting back into the world
Short Report: Recovery insights - Learning from lived experience
AstraZeneca article
Funded by
AstraZeneca
Project to report in
2010
