Photo elicitation study of a novel in-reach Rehabilitation and Recovery Service for people with severe and enduring mental health needs

This study aims to provide an in-depth exploration into staff and service users’ experiences of a Rehabilitation and Recovery Service for individuals with severe and enduring mental health needs. Fifteen purposefully sampled service users and fifteen purposefully sampled staff were recruited. Photo elicitation was used to enrich data collection through one-to-one semi-structured interviews with each participant. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to make sense of the data and researcher’s reflexivity was captured in the process. The data from each group was analysed separately. The first level of analysis consisted of the identification of meta-questions to which participants appeared to respond when undertaking their interview. The second level of analysis highlights participants’ engagement with identified analytic themes found across the meta-questions. This research suggests that implementing recovery principles into an NHS environment where interprofessional teams operate has many challenges. Conflicting models and powerful dynamics make it difficult for staff and service users to fully embrace recovery based on the principles of an integrative model of care. Main implications for service users include: the importance of building functioning relationships based on trust, respect, and empowerment; promoting and developing a greater awareness of individual mental health issues; and gaining more transparency regarding different treatment options and approaches to care. Main implications for staff include: promoting and developing greater awareness of different approaches to care; developing better communication across multidiscipline teams; and gaining greater awareness of the complexities of risk in order to improve staff confidence. Main implications across the Service include: increasing transparency and communication regarding the implementation of recovery principles at all levels; developing communication opportunities and methods within and across teams; and providing an opportunity to acknowledge the strengths and values of the different cultures found within the Service in order to present a bigger picture Trust wide.