Introduction: The recovery model has influenced mental health services and fostered new standards for best practice. However, knowledge about how mental health care professionals (HCPs) experience recovery-oriented programs is sparse.
Aim/question: This paper explores HCPs' experiences when facilitating a recovery-oriented rehabilitation program. The research question is how do HCPs experience a change in their attitude and practice when applying recovery-oriented programs?
Methods: This paper draws on semi-structured in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 16 HCPs experienced in facilitating a recovery-oriented rehabilitation program in either the USA or Denmark.
Results: Three themes emerged from the HCPs' reflections on changes in attitudes and practices: "Hopeful Attitude" captures a change in the HCPs' attitude toward a more positive view on the future for clients' living with mental illness; "A New Focus in the Dialogue With Clients" thematizes how the HCPs focus more on the individual's own goal for recovery rather than disease-induced goals in the dialog with clients; "A Person-Centered Role" comprises a shift in the professional role whereby the HCPs value the client's own ideas in addition to the professional's standards.
Conclusion: This study supports the theory of the recovery model by its empirical findings and indications that when facilitating a recovery-oriented program, HCPs experience recovery-oriented changes in their attitude toward life with mental illness, and it alters their professional practice toward a stronger focus on client's own goals during treatment. More studies are needed to further clarify how changes in HCPs' attitudes translate into changes in mental health practices.
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