Not the story you want? Assessing the fit of a conceptual framework characterising mental health recovery narratives

Llewellyn-Beardsley, Joy; Rennick-Egglestone, Stefan; Bradstreet, Simon; Davidson, Larry; Franklin, Donna; Hui, Ada; McGranahan, Rose; Morgan, Kate; Pollock, Kristian; Ramsay, Amy; Smith, Roger; Thornicroft, Graham; Slade, Mike

Abstract

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.

Citation

Llewellyn-Beardsley, J., Rennick-Egglestone, S., Bradstreet, S., Davidson, L., Franklin, D., Hui, A., …Slade, M. (2020). Not the story you want? Assessing the fit of a conceptual framework characterising mental health recovery narratives. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 55, 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01791-x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 7, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Oct 25, 2019
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Oct 15, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 19, 2020
• Journal: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
• Print ISSN: 0933-7954
• Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Pages: 295–308
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01791-x
• Keywords: Epidemiology; Health(social science); Psychiatry and Mental health; Social Psychology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2837542
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-019-01791-x
• Additional Information: Received: 4 June 2019; Accepted: 9 October 2019; First Online: 25 October 2019; : ; : The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.; : All persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. The study has obtained Ethical Committee approval (Nottingham 2 REC 17/EM/0401) and, therefore, has been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.