The active ingredients of intentional recovery communities: Focus group evaluation

Abstract

Background: Recovery amongst people with a severe mental illness is generally defined as a multi-dimensional process of transformation involving positive transitions across various psychosocial domains. Recent work on recovery has focused on addressing deficits in social relationships, social skills and social support. In an attempt to foster recovery and psycho-social rehabilitation amongst people with severe mental illness, four intentional recovery communities have been set up by a mental health services provider in Washington DC, guided by the principles underlying therapeutic communities developed elsewhere.

Aims: We set out to explore and elucidate whether components of these communities appeared to assist recovery from the point of view of consumers, and if so which were the most important factors.

Methods: Four focus groups were conducted, one for each community. We analysed data using grounded theory techniques.

Results: Three themes strongly emerged as important factors within the communities influencing recovery. These were the community as a place of safety, the community as surrogate family, and the community as socialization.

Conclusion: These three factors appear to be important components of intentional recovery communities.

Declaration of interest: None.

Keywords:

• Recovery
• qualitative
• mental health services
• social support
• severe mental illness