By Heather Masson

1. Recovery from Mental Illness…Offering
Hope Through Your Personal Journey
Presented by:
Dr. A. Baines, MD FRCPC
H. Masson RN CPMHN (C), Manager of Patient Care Services, Recovery Program
Carlo Verdicchio, Peer Support Worker

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Mental Health
Living with Mental Health Challenges
Protective and Risk Factors
Historical views of Recovery
Concepts of Recovery
Peer Support
Treatment Options
Residential Program at the Royal

3. Definition of Mental Health
WHO
Mental health is a state of well-being in which an
individual realizes his or her own abilities, can
cope with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and is able to make a contribution
to his or her community. In this positive sense,
mental health is the foundation for individual
well-being and the effective functioning of a
community.
World Health Organization

4. Mental Health Challenges Can Affect
An Individual’s…..
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Social Relationships
Physical Health
Ability to engage in meaningful activities
Ability to work or attend school
Finances
Ability to see their own potential

5. Historical Views on Recovery
• Institutionalization
• Negative perceptions
• Mental Health System beliefs and attitudes had negative
impact on patients and their families
• No notion of hope or Recovery
Allot, P. Loganathan, L. Fulford, K.M.W. (2002)

6. Mental Health Commission of Canada,
Recovery
Recovery…involves a process of growth
and transformation as the person moves
beyond the acute distress often
associated with a mental health problem
or illness and develops new-found
strengths and new ways of being. Mental
Health Commission of Canada, 2010

7. Language of Recovery
 FROM focusing on
deficits
 FROM doing for the
person
 FROM focusing on
disease
 FROM the clinician as
teacher
 FROM measuring set of
specific outcomes
 TO working with person’s
strengths
 TO working with the
person
 To focusing on treatment
 TO both person &
clinician as learners
 TO allowing person to
determine own goals &
own measures of success
Gottlieb (2013)

8. Stigma

10. Principles of Recovery
• Recovery is about building a meaningful and
satisfying life, as defined by the person
themselves, whether or not there are ongoing or
recurring symptoms or problems.
• Self-management is encouraged and facilitated.
The processes of self-management are similar,
but what works may be very different for each
individual. No ‘one size fits all’.

11. Principles of Recovery cont….
• The helping relationship between clinicians and
patients moves away from being expert / patient to being
‘coaches’ or ‘partners’ on a journey of discovery.
• People do not recover in isolation. Recovery is closely
associated with social inclusion and being able to take
on meaningful and satisfying social roles within local
communities, rather than in segregated services.
• Recovery is about discovering – or re-discovering – a
sense of personal identity, separate from illness or
disability.

12. Recovery

13. Quality of Life

14. Hope

15. Building my Role
Peer Support in Recovery

16. Peer Support in Recovery
“Research findings document that individuals who use peer
run services have decreased hospitalizations, suicide rates,
and substance use, an increase in social contacts, ability to
carry out activities of daily living and a positive impact on
participants’ recovery, including an increase in their
empowerment, hopefulness, and informal learning of
adaptive coping strategies.”
J. Campbell in On Our Own Together: Peer Programs for
People with Mental Illness:

17. Wellness

18. Wellness
From the December 2012 issue of the Canadian Foundation
for Healthcare Improvement’s Mythbusters :
“…a growing body of evidence is showing that recovery of a
meaningful life despite limitations imposed by illness is
possible and likely. People with lived experience have known
for some time that, with hope, empowerment and support
from others, recovery is possible. Promoting a mental health
system that views both personal and clinical recovery as the
objective can reduce the healthcare costs, enhance quality of
life, promote social inclusion, and help those living with
mental illness lead full and productive lives.”

19. Recovery Program at the Royal
• 32 bed inpatient unit located on the 1st floor of the
Royal Ottawa Place.
• 3-6 month length of stay
• Interdisciplinary Team (Psychiatry, Nursing, OT, SW,
RT, Dietary, Peer Support, Pharmacist on site)
• Recovery-focused treatment, education and
opportunities for skill-building.
• A holistic view of mental health that focuses on the
individuals strengths, not just symptoms

20. Who do we serve?
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Axis 1 diagnosis
Age 18-65
History of prolonged illness and hospitalization
First episode psychosis
Experiencing significant challenges in his or her ability to
successfully function within the community. This is
demonstrated by a lack of meaningful activity, social roles or
functional ability to manage self-care or live in the community
with minimal formal support.
• Capable of engaging in the recovery process
• Voluntary Program

21. Referral Process
• Referral Package complete
• Send through internal mail or fax
• Reviewed by intake team to determine
appropriateness of referral
• Team assessment of patient and tour
• Wait list
• Admission

22. An individual is ready to participate in the
program when…..
Ability and desire to …
• Engage in the recovery process with our
interdisciplinary team
• Identify short and long term goals
• Recognize responsibility for their wellness and
recovery
• Participate and engage in regular
programming

23. Program Goals and Discharge
• The goal is for people to move back into the
community and live as independently as possible,
accessing available community supports. People are
discharged when they;
• Successfully reach their goals
• Demonstrate a level of functioning in activities of
daily living required to live in the most appropriate
environment of their choice
• Progress to a point where they can no longer benefit
from the program

24. Treatment
“Recovery is described as a deeply personal,
unique process of changing one’s attitudes,
values, feelings, goals, skills, and/or roles. It is
a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and
contributing life even with limitations caused
by illness. Recovery involves the development
of new meaning and purpose in one’s life as
one grows beyond the catastrophic effects of
mental illness.”
Anthony (1993)

25. Meanings of Recovery
• Above is an example of Personal Recovery,
which is an idea about recovery from illness
that comes from the expertise of people with
lived experience of mental illness
• Clinical Recovery, is more familiar to health
care workers and arises from the expertise of
mental health professionals and usually
involves eradicating symptoms and returning
to social functioning.
Adapted from Slade (2009)

26. • Treatment in recovery-focused care is a
collaborative process which focuses on
promoting well-being rather than simply
treating illness. Professional staff are
encouraged to facilitate a service-user
identifying, developing, and working
towards personally meaningful goals for
their well-being. As much as possible, the
service user is the ultimate decisionmaker for how care is directed.

27. Professional Expertise
• Providing education/guidance on medication options,
including risks and benefits so consumers can make informed
decisions
• Assisting in identifying and achieving personal goals for safety
and well-being (symptom mgmt, housing, financial security,
healthy lifestyle activities)
• Facilitating fostering meaningful relationships, selfempowerment, self-esteem
• Assisting in developing meaningful occupation and
social/community inclusion
• Supporting peer relationships through Peer Support Workers

28. The importance of self-directed goalsetting
“It’s not really helpful to do activities just for the
sake of doing something, to really make a
difference it has to be meaningful.”
-patient in the Recovery Program

29. • http://www.mentalhealthcare.org.uk/recovery

30. Success Stories

31. Questions???

32. Recovery is Possible for Everyone..
“Persons suffering from mental or physical illness must not
define themselves by their illness, but rather the unique
individual that they are. Any illness may make your journey
through life more challenging however, recovery is possible
for anyone. Recovery is a process in which an individual
suffering with mental illness acquires insight into their
strengths and abilities, and continues to work toward
meaningful goals despite residual symptoms of their illness.
Success is not measured by others, but rather the person
themselves.”
Heather Masson RN CPMHN (C)

33. Resources
Allott, P., Loganathan, L. and Fulford, K.W.M. (2002). Discovering hope for recovery: a review of a
selection of recovery literature, implications for practice and systems change in Lurie, S.,
McCubbin, M., & Dallaire, B. (Eds.). International innovations in community mental health [special
issue]. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 21(3).
Mental Health Commission of Canada www.mentalhealthcommission.ca
Changing directions, changing lives. Mental Health Strategy for Canada
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Toward Recovery and Well-Being: A Framework for a Mental Health Strategy for Canada
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Voluntary National Standard of Canada for psychological health and safety in the workplace
released
http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/January_2013/MHCC_Standar
d_MediaRelease_ENG.pdf
Centre for Addiction and Mental health www.camh.ca
CAMH Knowledge Exchange http://knowledgex.camh.net
Canadian best practices portal for health promotion and chronic disease
prevention www.phac.gc.ca/cbpp
CMHA Mental health promotion tool kit http://www.cmha.ca/mh_toolkit/intro/index.htm
Evidence-based mental health promotion resource (VicHealth)
www.health.vic.gov.au/healthpromotion/downloads/mhr_social.pdf
Gottlieb, L. (2013). Strengths-Based nursing care. Health and healing for person and family. New
York: Springer
Interactive Domain Model of Best Practices IDM Best Practices website at www.idmbestpractices.ca
National Network for Mental Health (NNMH) http://www.nnmh.ca/