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New Zealand FALSE! According to the Kia Mauri Tau, recovery ranges from a glimpse of the possible to living a full but often different life. Kia Mauri Tau Narratives of Recovery from Disabling Mental Health Problems Hilary Lapsley, Linda Waimarie Nikora and Roseanne Black “Kia Mauri Tau!” or “Narratives of Recovery from Disabling Mental Health Problems”, is a unique collection of stories told to interviewers by 40 individuals about their journey from mental illness through recovery. The researchers in this study did something new. They asked the right question. “What keeps people well?” Research usually focused on the objective and illness yet those seeking mental health services are doing so for the “health” not the data. In the age of customer satisfaction it is a tribute to New Zealand that they had the foresight to engage in this project. In addition to the unique question, is the composition of the bicultural research team, the stories of those in recovery from mental illness, and trusting that what they were told was the experience of the person telling the story. These stories come from Maori and non-Maori men and women of New Zealand. The interviews covered the mental illness, barriers to recovery, and recovery itself. Since people are complex the researchers listened to stories covering social, economic, political, spiritual, and emotional aspects of life. First of all the theme of recovery rather than illness was defined. New Zealand Mental Health Commission’s, who published this book defined recovery; “It is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life even with limitations cause by illness.” The Maori mental health model focuses on balance between the body, person, extended family, and the environment and ecologies within which they exist. This book is divided into three parts; Journeys into Mental Ill Health, Journeys Toward Recovery; and the Onward Journey. Prior to the beginning of Part One is an explanation of how the research was designed, those who participated in the study, and how the interviews were developed and conducted. The interviewers balanced their interviews to be consistent with the recovery model, with half of the time spent on the illness but half for recovery.. The first part of the interview was devoted to the “mental illness story” while the later was devoted to the “recovery story”. Chapter Three, Being Mentally Unwell is divided into the general descriptions of those interviewed. The descriptions include:
The symptoms of mental illness were identified by:
Personal reactions to the experience were also recorded. The additional mental ill health experience is characterized by mental health interventions which focus on:
The vast variety of treatments was presented from going to the family doctor to hospitalization and the various forms of treatment in an inpatient setting. Community treatment and no treatment were also discussed. The final chapter of part one focused on consequences from the impact on relationships with family and friends; work and career; finances; and social stigma. Once the general descriptions, symptoms and interventions were covered the interviewers went on to how did you move toward recovery, or from well to unwell? Part two, Journeys Toward Recovery, identifies what people need to recover from which consisted of” what had always been the matter, stressful situations and/or symptoms that led mental ill health; fears and anxieties; treatments; the consequences of mental ill health; destruction of self-esteem, trust, optimism, hope and faith in the future; and stigma. Once what the interviewees shared what they needed to recover from, it became clear that recovery occurred in three phases. These phases are the turning point, where people took charge of their situation. For almost every person some positive event occurred prior to this stage which was aptly names Glimpses of Recovery which was really the first stage; followed by the Turning Point where people took charge of their situation; and finally the Road to Recovery where those who had mental ill health put into practice what worked for them. Once all of this information was complied the researches used these stories to develop a model of recovery for which they used to acronyms RECOVER and HEART. RECOVER consists of strategies people felt were helpful in recovery: – Reading,
researching, and learning from others about mental health Discovering helpful recovery strategies was not enough but had to be followed by the desire to implement them. The researchers identified this as the fundamental processes of change which they went on to call HEART. – Hope Cultural contributors and barriers to recovery were also addressed. Finally, the most common attitude of mental ill health and traveling the road to recovery were the benefits in the long term. In summary the conclusions of this research were divided into eight stages from mental illness, to recovery, and life after mental illness. These eight stages include: A typical journey into mental-ill health
A typical journey toward recovery
A typical journey along mental-ill health
This research gives those who are at the beginning of the road hope that they will reach the end successfully. This is a genuine benefit for the stories were all from people who had been there. A special thank you goes to those who put all their time and energy into developing a recovery model that was shaped by those in recovery. Utilizing a bicultural approach allowed researchers to look at cultural aspects which impact mental-ill health and recovery, as well as other variables. Kia Mauri Tau – Narratives of Recovery from Disabling Mental Health Problems Authors Report of the University of Waikato – Mental Health Narratives Project – New Zealand – Published by the Mental Health Commission of Wellington 2002 Requests for copies of this book should be addressed to: Mental Health Commission To download a copy of this book in pdf: www.mhc.govt.nz/publications/2002/Kia_Mauri_Tau.pdf
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Recovery Models n Definitions n Barriers to Recovery n Recovery Tools n International Recovery Awareness
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