What are the impacts of implementing recovery innovations into services? A new conceptual framework

Myra PIAT 1, Megan WAINWRIGHT2, Eleni SOFOULI1, Marie-Pier RIVEST3

1McGill University, Montreal, Canada
2Unversity of Durham, Monsanto, Portugal
3Universite de Moncton, Moncton, Canada

Introduction: Outcome studies in mental health recovery have focused primarily on personal-level recovery outcomes. Evaluating the broader impact of implementing recovery innovations on organizations is lacking. In the context of a 5-year Canadian study to implement recovery guidelines and transform services towards a recovery-orientation, we developed the IMpacts of Recovery Innovations (IMRI).

Methods:  Seven organisations providing mental health services participated. Each site created an implementation team that selected and implemented a recovery innovation that met their organisational needs. Four types of recovery innovations were implemented including: peer support, staff training on recovery, WRAP and a family support group. Ninety participants from diverse stakeholder groups including service users, service providers, family members and managers participated in 41 qualitative interviews after the implementation of their recovery innovation. We applied a collaborative qualitative content analysis approach using NVivo12 to code and interpret the data.

Results:  The IMpacts of Recovery Innovations (IMRI) conceptual framework includes: 18 impacts of implementing recovery innovations organised around four overall categories: Ways of being, Ways of interacting, Ways of thinking, and Ways of operating and doing business. 

Discussion/Conclusion: This new conceptual framework is unique because it goes beyond evaluating the impact on the person and includes the impact of implementing recovery innovations on systems and services targeted by the innovations. IMRI may help to advance evaluation efforts because too often impact is narrowly defined as patient outcomes. When implementing recovery innovations aimed at system-transformation, we need a broader view of impact that includes, but is not limited to, individual-level impacts. The IMRI conceptual framework fills this gap by encompassing service and organisational impacts.