Recovery from schizophrenia: developing context utilising the literature

Abstract

Purpose – Recovery has been debated in mental health for some time. Attempts to clarify and make recovery operational have served to add confusion and uncertainty. This has failed to unite service users and service providers due to differing approaches, despite the rhetoric. The purpose of this paper is to offer an overview and to position the context from a humanistic and salutogenic perspective appreciating new approaches and influences for people in their journey of recovery having been given a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Design/methodology/approach – All literature available could not be included and therefore the author did not select papers purely demonstrating outcome statistics. The preference was to address papers looking at the connections people have and the important factors they feel contribute towards recovery. Findings – An agreed definition of recovery cannot be established, but differing perspectives need to be appreciated and considered if recovery is to be successfully achieved. Some mental health practitioners may feel they have an understanding of recovery, yet evidence continues to point to the uncertainty in practice and delivery of services. Newer incentives and recovery networks are establishing themselves to meet areas missed by traditional approaches. Originality/value – The value of this literature review is to highlight some of the areas already observed and to provoke the potential for fresh thinking in relation to a salutogenic approach taking into account the perceptions of the stakeholder groups. This would enable people to re-evaluate their thoughts and practice and contextualise where we are in relation to recovery for people diagnosed with schizophrenia.