Perceived level of mental health recovery as an outcome indicator in community support programs

Recovery theory in the area of mental health is gaining momentum as more individuals who have recovered from the effects of serious mental illness have shared their experiences and the process of their own recovery. Previous qualitative research has developed a definition of recovery and identified components of the recovery process. This correlational study adds to recovery theory knowledge by using an existing individual recovery measure in a cross-sectional survey design to determining the relationships between frequency and duration of participation in community support programs for persons with serious and persistent mental illness and individual participants' perceived level of recovery using the Mental Health Recovery Measure. While the data from this study showed no relationship between duration of participation and level of recovery a significant positive relationship was indicated between frequency of participation and perceived level of recovery. This study provides data and outlines a method of the use of existing recovery instruments such as the Mental Health Recovery Measure as an outcome indicator of program effectiveness for community support programs for persons with serious and persistent mental illness.