Will Hospitals Recover?: The Implications of a Recovery-Orientation

Abstract

Recovery has emerged as a dynamic and effective model for community services for people with serious mental illness. As the efficacy of the model is demonstrated and the reality of recovery is experienced by many consumers, some state hospital systems are expressing an interest in how a recovery model might influence prevailing institutional practices. The challenge in the hospitals may be to recognize at what point in the treatment process the recovery model informs the medical model. Issues to be considered in implementation of the recovery model in state hospitals include the relative dominance of symptom-focused treatment models, hierarchical institutional structures and employee attitudes that tend to resist change, and the effects of chronic institutionalization on patient and staff attitudes toward recovery and autonomy. State hospitals may need to focus on consumer-identified themes such as hope, self-identity, responsibility, and meaning as they attempt to incorporate the recovery model into the hospital culture. These themes are not incongruent with exemplary medical practice. Practical application of the model should consider these dimensions with respect to the key hospital domains of treatment team function, patient role, hospital environment, administrative leadership, and intervention strategies.