Orientation Program Shows Value of Recovery-Oriented Care

Recovery-oriented care models have been gaining traction in many mental health and substance abuse settings, but it’s been a slow process due to the many demands on an underfunded, overworked mental health system.

“Of course all clinicians want and hope for their patients to recover,” said Rebecca Miller, Ph.D., at IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference, held last month in New York. She is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC), one of the oldest community mental health centers in the country and a place that has embraced a recovery-oriented care model. “If physicians are able to bring out in the workplace the principles they all think about, it can bring dramatic results. Even something small like a cup of coffee or a smile helps.”

It’s a practice that the CMHC has been employing for years, though their most recent initiative—which was highlighted in the IPS session—has been getting everyone involved.

The effort itself is relatively simple and involves panels of about five to seven people involved in the recovery process—both people receiving services as well as peer-support staff (people who have lived with mental illness and work at the center to help current patients). They meet with new medical personnel as part of the CMHC’s orientation program for new staff. The panelists then discuss what they liked the most and least about their current or previous time in therapy, as well as what they thought worked best for their recovery goals.

“These panels rely on the power of stories and the contact hypothesis to bridge the gap between the provider and patient,” said David Howe, L.C.S.W., who brought this idea to the CMHC after serving for many years as the director of programs and services at Connecticut Valley Hospital.

“What makes these panels effective is that it’s a low-cost method to teach recovery care that can work in a variety of settings,” he said during the lecture. “And, importantly, it empowers the patients to have them involved.”

Miller noted that this orientation program—which started in 2014—seems to have the desired effect on physicians and other staff as well; among the feedback she’s received are comments on how powerful it was to hear directly from people in recovery and how these sessions helped define recovery-oriented care.

“It even got some staff to open up themselves and discuss their own personal experiences with mental illness or addiction,” Miller said.

Miller, Howe, and other staff at the CMHC are exploring how to incorporate these recovery panels throughout the year to broaden their reach. One of the attractive elements of the CMHC is its association with Yale Medical School, which provides a fertile ground of residents, fellows, students, and visiting scientists who have an opportunity to learn about recovery-oriented care and spread this knowledge at their next destinations. ■