Creating a recovery focused workforce: supporting staff well-being and valuing the expertise of lived experience

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue that if mental health services are to genuinely support the recovery of those who they serve then recovery principles must permeate all facets of the organisation, in particular human resources and workforce development.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on the principles of recovery-focused approaches to people who use services and explores how these might guide a recovery-focused approaches to human resources and workforce issues.

Findings

The recovery principles like recognising and utilising the expertise of lived experience, co-production and shared decision making, peer support, focusing on strengths and becoming an expert in your own self-care all have as much relevance for creating a recovery-focused workforce as they do in the recovery journeys of those who use services. Everyone who uses services is “more than a mental patient” and everyone who provides services is “more than a mental health practitioner” – we need to use all the assets that everyone brings.

Originality/value

Although there has been a great deal of discussion about the features of recovery-focused services, there has been little, if any, consideration of extending the principles of recovery to human resources. The aim of this paper is not to offer a blue print but to begin an exploration of what a recovery-focused approach to workforce issues might look like.

Citation

Walker, L., Perkins, R. and Repper, J. (2014), "Creating a recovery focused workforce: supporting staff well-being and valuing the expertise of lived experience", Mental Health and Social Inclusion, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 133-141. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-07-2014-0022