News News Archive 2009 National survey shows professionals’ messages of recovery are hitting the mark
National survey shows professionals’ messages of recovery are hitting the mark |
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| Thursday, 19 November 2009 |
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The fourth national survey of the Scottish public’s attitudes indicates that 75% of people who have experienced a mental health problem are receiving a positive recovery message from professionals. Well? What do you think? 2008 provides a detailed picture of public attitudes, including peoples’ perceptions of their own health, and their attitudes towards, and experience of, mental health issues. It also throws light on where and how they source information about mental health.  Well? What do you think? was first carried out in 2002, and is repeated every two years. Each survey compares findings from earlier years, providing a useful way of measuring progress towards increasing awareness and reducing negative attitudes amongst the Scottish public.The news that 75% of people with a mental health problem say they are getting a positive message about recovery from professionals (up from 66% in 2006), is a good indicator that services are delivering more recovery-focussed support. The report highlights the Scottish Recovery Indicator as ‘crucial’ tool in this respect. Also encouraging is the fact that a significant majority (79%, up from 76% in 2006) said that they had also received supportive recovery messages from friends, family and other non professionals. Less encouraging is the downwards trend in the number of people who agree with the statement: ‘The majority of people with mental health problems recover’. The 2008 figure is 42%, down from 46% in 2006 and 2004, and 50% in 2002. More work is needed to get the message out to the general population that people can and do recover from mental health problems, perhaps with a shift in emphasis to reflect that recovery is not only possible, but is to be expected. In terms of the factors that help and hinder recovery, overwhelmingly, the factor most commonly cited was ‘support from family and friends’. with 62% of respondents saying this was important in supporting their recovery. The next most popular answer was ‘medication’, cited by 39%. As in previous years, an analysis of the factors that help recovery support the idea that recovery is personal and unique. Well? What do you think? (2008): The Fourth National Scottish Survey of Public Attitudes to Mental Wellbeing and Mental Health Problems, is based on evidence collected from nearly 1200 face to face interviews carried out in peoples’ homes. The research was carried out by Sara Davidson, Kate Sewel and Daniel Tse of Ipsos MORI, and Professor Rory O'Connor of the University of Stirling. The report can be downloaded or read online here. |
| New SRN research explores the experience of recovery over time |
16 May Since the first discussions about bringing recovery based approaches to Scotland began, one thing has always been clear: that people's personal narratives - the stories and experiences they share - are central to understanding and encouraging mental health recovery. |
| Black women, recovery and resilience |
16 May In a specially commissioned article for SRN, researcher and psychiatric survivor Dr Jayasree Kalathil explores the issues of recovery and resilience from the perspective of black women interviewed for a 2011 study by Survivor Research and the Mental Health Foundation. While the article focuses on recent data from England, there are important lessons to be learnt everywhere, including Scotland. |
| What mental health practitioners talk about, when they talk about SRI 2 |
16 May Having recently facilitated Learning Networks on the use of the updated Scottish Recovery Indicator (SRI 2), SRN’s John McCormack was keen to hear from practitioners about their use of the tool and how it affects practice in the field. Here John shares his discussions with Lindsay Kerr and Jan Thomson who both work in NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s Mental Health Services. |
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