This project is a participatory action research project that is a collaboration with Wichita State University and the Kansas Consumer Advisory Council, the statewide mental health advocacy network. Last summer at the Recovery Conference, we gathered 40 stories of people who have moved through to the other side of their diagnosis. We also had several people tell their stories via artwork. Interns from Wichita State University’s Center for Community Support and Research transcribed the stories. Then about five of us read through the transcripts and are theming the stories to see what is in common between the different types of recovery stories.
We have been accepted to present the results of this research at the Societry of Community Research and Action conference this summer in Chicago. Here is the abstract for our presentation:
Innovative Session
Understandings of Mental Health Recovery
Ashlee Keele-Lien, M.A.; Michael Lemke, B.A.; Corinna West; Sam Schrepel; Jeffery Hunter; Adrienne Banta, B.A.; Tara Gregory, Ph.D.; Greg Meissen, Ph.D.
Much research has been done on the subject of recovery from mental illness, and many different definitions of recovery exist. However, the experiences of individuals who go through the actual recovery process are often overlooked. As researchers and practitioners, can we understand mental health recovery if we have not experienced a mental health diagnosis?
Kansas has a powerful consumer empowerment and recovery movement due at least in part to a very strong advocacy history for people with mental illnesses. One of the successes in the state is the annual Kansas Recovery Conference, which for several years held the record as the largest mental health consumer conference in the nation. The conference is organized entirely by mental health consumers, with leadership from the Consumer Advisory Council (CAC), Kansas’ statewide mental health consumer network and a member of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery. At last year’s 10th annual Kansas Recovery conference, attendees were provided the opportunity to share their stories of recovery through writing, drawings, or filmed interviews. Researchers from the CAC and Wichita State University’s Center for Community Support and Research collaborated to analyze the stories to identify themes associated with recovery from mental illness and the consumer empowerment and recovery movement in Kansas.
This innovative session will utilize artwork, stories, and videos from the Kansas Recovery Conference to demonstrate consumer perspectives of mental health recovery. The session will also explore the connections between the actual experiences and perspectives of consumers, practitioner/researcher definitions of recovery, and current best practices for recovery.
Cherie Bledsoe, one of the leaders of Kansas' civil rights movements, at the 2010 Kansas Recovery Conference.
Helen DeWolf and her baby during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Kansas Recovery conference in Wichita, KS
