Hope and improvements in mental health service providers' recovery attitudes following training

Abstract

Background: Service providers' attitudes towards recovery can improve with formal training. However, it is unclear whether improvements depend on dispositional hope. Aims: To determine whether attitudinal improvements following formal recovery training vary depending on participants' dispositional hope.

Method: One hundred and three providers attended formal recovery training and completed measures of recovery knowledge, attitudes, hopefulness and optimism.

Results: Training improved providers' recovery knowledge, attitudes, hopefulness and optimism. Providers with both high and low dispositional hope achieved similar gains.

Conclusions: Attitudinal improvements following formal recovery training were not dependent on baseline levels of dispositional hope. Institutions committed to recovery-oriented care should consider utilizing formal training.

Keywords:

• Recovery
• hope
• mental illness
• mental health

Acknowledgements

This research was partly funded by the Australian National Health Medical Research Council (NHMRC, #219327), through the Health Partnership Grant Scheme.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.