Eliciting recovery narratives in global mental health: Benefits and potential harms in service user participation.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:The engagement of peers and service users is increasingly emphasized in
mental health clinical, educational, and research activities. A core means of engagement
is via the sharing of recovery narratives, through which service users present their
personal history of moving from psychiatric disability to recovery. We critically
examine the range of contexts and purposes for which recovery narratives are elicited
in global mental health. METHOD:We present 4 case studies that represent the variability
in recovery narrative elicitation, purpose, and geography: a mental health Gap Action
Programme clinician training program in Nepal, an inpatient clinical service in Indian-controlled
Kashmir, a recovery-oriented care program in urban Australia, and an undergraduate
education program in the rural United States. In each case study, we explore the context,
purpose, process of elicitation, content, and implications of incorporating recovery
narratives. RESULTS:Within each context, organizations engaging service users had
a specific intention of what "recovery" should constitute. This was influenced by
the anticipated audience for the recovery stories. These expectations influenced the
types of service users included, narrative content, and training provided for service
users to prepare and share narratives. Our cases illustrate the benefit of these coconstructed
narratives and potential negative impacts on service users in some contexts, especially
when used as a prerequisite for accessing or being discharged from clinical care.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE:Recovery narratives have the potential to
be used productively across purposes and contexts when there is adequate identification
of and responses to potential risks and challenges. (PsycINFO Database Record (c)
2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Type
Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/19473Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1037/prj0000384Publication Info
Kaiser, Bonnie N; Varma, Saiba; Carpenter-Song, Elizabeth; Sareff, Rebecca; Rai, Sauharda;
& Kohrt, Brandon A (2019). Eliciting recovery narratives in global mental health: Benefits and potential harms
in service user participation. Psychiatric rehabilitation journal. 10.1037/prj0000384. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/19473.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Brandon A. Kohrt
Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Brandon Kohrt is a medical anthropologist and psychiatrist who completed his MD-PhD
at Emory University in 2009. He is currently Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Global
Health, and Cultural Anthropology at Duke University. Dr. Kohrt has worked in Nepal
since 1996 researching and aiding victims of war including child soldiers. Since 2006
has worked with Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Nepal. Dr. Kohrt has
been a consultant to The Carter Center Mental Health Program Liberia Init

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