Student perspectives: recovery college experience

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to explore Recovery College from a student perspective and consider what contributes to making Recovery College effective. Design/methodology/approach-The authors draw on interviews with students, course feedback forms, a detailed narrative of one of the authors' experiences as a student and the authors' own reflections. Findings-Students' experience is that Recovery College is effective because of the social relational factors, learning from other students and the collaborative co-production approach; the educational approach learning skills and knowledge, and choice and progression to personal goals. Originality/value-This paper explores key aspects of Recovery College from a student perspective, informing the authors about possible components to their effectiveness.

Hope headquarters: recovery college

“…Recovery colleges (RCs) are a relatively new concept being increasingly recognised as an innovative approach to recoveryorientated mental health care. 9 Around the world, RCs are formal learning institutions that strive to create environments in which people with a lived experience of mental distress feel safe, welcome and accepted. RCs aim to support their students to develop their own individual learning plans, with peer support if desired, that reflects their recovery journey and desired personal outcomes.…”

Mental health service users’ experiences of an education intervention based on a European Union project: A comparison between nine European countries

“…According to Meddings et al . (), the MHSUs at Recovery College highly appreciated co‐production between people with lived experiences of mental illness and mental health professionals. In addition, our study highlighted the pedagogical execution of training to support the MHSUs’ successful participation in the education.…”

Brief Interventions for Psychosis

“…The fi rst example appeared more than 20 years ago at the Centre for Psychiatric Rehabilitation in Boston ( http://cpr.bu.edu/living-well/services ) and the concept was then developed by "Recovery Innovations" in Phoenix, Arizona (Ashcraft and Anthony 2005 ). They suggest that Recovery Colleges are very popular among users, with over 90 % reporting that the course they attended was "good" or "excellent" and that they would recommend it to others (Rennison et al 2014 ;Meddings et al 2014 ). The fi rst UK "Recovery College" was established in South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust and offi cially opened in September 2011.…”