Narratives of recovery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Narratives of recovery: Capturing recovery stories from people who have used Forensic Mental Health Services
IRAS ID
229859
Contact name
Sophie Sutherland
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Staffordshire University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 28 days
Research summary
The project aims to explore, using a narrative framework, the recovery stories of people who have used forensic mental health services. The current literature in this area is limited; much of the literature focuses on professionals’ experiences and opinions about what constitutes recovery and what factors are important. With growing emphasis on service user led informed outcomes and service delivery, this project seeks to understand and capture the recovery stories of people who have used forensic mental health services and have moved back to community settings. The aim is to understand what factors have enabled, facilitated and supported recovery from a service user perspective. The research aims to do this by establishing the themes that are common across participants’ narratives. It has been argued that forensic settings are among the most difficult in which to identify how to apply recovery principles (Drennan & Wooldridge 2014). Therefore the findings of the study may have important clinical implications for understanding the recovery journey, including theories about recovery, and could contribute towards understanding how research can progress in this under-researched field, as well as inform service delivery.
The research is to be carried out with approximately 4-8 ex-service users who have been discharged from the Redwoods Centre, Clee Low Secure Unit, Shrewsbury. Dr Chris Davis (Consultant Clinical Psychologist) and Angela Marck (Social Worker) will act as gatekeepers, identifying potential participants, making initial contact with details of the research. Once informed consent is gained, participants will be interviewed either in person or via telephone interview. Participants will be asked to talk about their experiences of recovery using a semi-structured interview. Qualitative analysis of the data will be conducted by the Chief Investigator using a narrative approach. The research will last 12-18 months, inclusive of the time at which participants are recruited to writing up the research.REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
17/WA/0269
Date of REC Opinion
16 Oct 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion