Exploring the sustainability determinants of recovery-oriented interventions for adults.

Eleni SOFOULI^1,2, Myra PIAT^1,2

¹McGill University, Montreal, Canada
²Douglas Mental Health University Institute - Research Center, Montreal, Canada

Introduction:

The transformation of mental health services to recovery-orientation is a policy priority for countries worldwide. Over the past two decades, there has been increased research on the conceptualization, effectiveness, and operationalization of mental health recovery into services. However, less attention has been given to the sustainability of recovery-oriented interventions and practices over time even though international literature consistently reports that not all health interventions can fully sustain their activities beyond the initial implementation phase. Unsustainable health programs represent a significant public health concern due to the lack of long-term health outcomes for service users, the expenditure of resources in an era of scarcity and the demoralization of involved stakeholders, etc.

Methods:

Building on a pan-Canadian study on facilitating and evaluating the implementation of mental health recovery-oriented guidelines, this study assessed the capacity of three organizations to sustain peer support and staff recovery training two years after their initial implementation and identify the facilitators and barriers for sustaining these interventions. Between 2022 and 2023, 37 people involved in implementing recovery-oriented interventions participated in this research. In order to understand the factors that most determined sustainability qualitative and quantitative data from 37 interviews were mapped to three well-established implementation science frameworks.

Results:

Results will report on the factors that determine the sustainment of peer support.

Discussion:

Sustainability is a significant concern for all involved actors in healthcare. Researchers have not yet explored the concept of sustainability in great depth in mental health and recovery oriented interventions. This study will help to fill this gap in our knowledge, and findings could pave the way for more focused research.

Conclusion:

At its core, understanding the sustainability of recovery interventions may result in increased social inclusion of people with a mental illness, a marginalized group experiencing high poverty rates, homelessness, and low life expectancy.