Citation

Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Rennick-Egglestone S, Bradstreet S, Davidson L, Franklin D, Hui A, McGranahan R, Morgan K, Pollock K, Ramsay A, Smith R, Thornicroft G, Slade M. Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

School of Health Sciences, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00127-019-01791-x

PMID

31654089

Abstract

PURPOSE: Narratives of recovery have been central to the development of the recovery approach in mental health. However, there has been a lack of clarity around definitions. A recent conceptual framework characterised recovery narratives based on a systematic review and narrative synthesis of existing literature, but was based on a limited sample. The aims of this study were to assess the relevance of the framework to the narratives of more diverse populations, and to develop a refined typology intended to inform narrative-based research, practice and intervention development.

METHOD: 77 narrative interviews were conducted with respondents from four under-researched mental health sub-populations across England. Deductive and inductive analysis was used to assess the relevance of the dimensions and types of the preliminary typology to the interview narratives.

RESULTS: Five or more dimensions were identifiable within 97% of narratives. The preliminary typology was refined to include new definitions and types. The typology was found not to be relevant to two narratives, whose narrators expressed a preference for non-verbal communication. These are presented as case studies to define the limits of the typology.

CONCLUSION: The refined typology, based on the largest study to date of recovery narratives, provides a defensible theoretical base for clinical and research use with a range of clinical populations. Implications for practice include ensuring a heterogeneous selection of narratives as resources to support recovery, and developing new approaches to supporting non-verbal narrative construction.

Language: en

Keywords

Mental health; Narrative; Qualitative; Recovery