WRAP research reports overwhelmingly positive results |
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Tuesday, 28 September 2010 |
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New research into the Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) self management tool has reported overwhelmingly positive results. The research, commissioned by the Scottish Recovery Network as part of its continued drive to share recovery tools, was focussed on the use of WRAP in self-help and mutual support groups.
 As part of the project SRN trained eight WRAP facilitators linked to four organisations offering self help and mutual support groups - Bi-polar Fellowship Scotland, Depression Alliance Scotland, Stepping Stones and Tayside Carers Support Group. The research, which was led by the Scottish Centre for Social Research and the Scottish Primary Care Mental Health Research and Development Programme reported:
- WRAP shared in groups had a positive impact, which was sustained over time.
- Participants reported greater self awareness and recovery knowledge.
- Facilitators report great benefit from having their own WRAP in that it supported wellness and recovery as well as a connection and mutuality with group participants.
- The key role of the group setting in supporting shared learning, and in offering a safe and supportive environment to examine wellness and recovery.
- WRAP offered a structured means to talk about mental health experiences in a positive way.
The report described this potential for WRAP to be a means to bring mental health issues into the open as something akin to ‘coming out’ and this point was powerfully described by one group participant:
‘ .. it's given me a better understanding of my own mental health and my mental health state. But no’ only that, it's given me confidence in myself, you know, .. you know, that I've gained throughout the group and the Support Workers. The .. there is light at the end o' the tunnel. But it's also given that same confidence to my family because they’ve had the benefit from the WRAP as well. It's not just me that’s, you know, that’s getting the benefit from it. My family's getting that as well because they can see the difference. It's like, you know, my eldest daughter said, “My dad's back”, and that’s how she explains it.’
Other participants described the need for people to want to own tools and approaches like WRAP, pointing to the danger of them being imposed on people:
‘I think that the only person can do it is yourself. I think it's got to be in .. from the inside out. I don’t see how it can be done from the outside in. D'you understand what I mean?’
The findings of the research are perhaps all the more remarkable in that the study was based on the first time the newly trained Facilitators had delivered WRAP sessions.
Commenting on her experience Dee who Facilitated on behalf of Depression Alliance Scotland said: “It was really scary – we had no idea what to expect but could tell pretty quickly that people were getting a lot from it which made us feel better. There is no doubt in my mind that the way people openly shared their experiences and the collective wisdom in the group meant we couldn’t go far wrong.”
Recommendations made in the report included:
- That the promotion of WRAP be given serious consideration in any efforts to increase access to therapeutic supports and interventions in Scotland.
- Need to ensure WRAP is accessible to all and the need to monitor potential negative impacts.
- The suggestion that materials be updated and refined for the Scottish context.
- Research over a longer time period.
Commenting on the findings Scottish Recovery Network Officer, John Moody said: “From our previous experience we suspected the findings of this research would be positive but even we were surprised at how effective WRAP delivered by trained facilitators in group settings seems to be. We will now be using these findings, along with previous research we have commissioned and other learning from across Scotland about the use of WRAP to develop a strategic plan for the future support and development of WRAP. This is just the beginning of our work in this area.”
In addition to offering a wealth of personal testimony on the power of WRAP and recovery education the report also summarises and reviews a range of international literature on the use of WRAP. While positive this was a relatively small research project and SRN are keen to investigate the possibility of larger scale research on the use of WRAP.
The research report can be accessed here Evaluation of WRAP in groups (267.98 kB)
More information about Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP)
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