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A Mixed-Methods Study of the Recovery Concept, “A Meaningful Day,” in Community Mental Health Services for Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses

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Abstract

The recovery concept encompasses overcoming or managing one’s illness, being physically and emotionally healthy, and finding meaningful purpose through work, school, or volunteering, which connects one to others in mutually fulfilling ways. Using a mixed-methods approach, we studied the emphasis on “a meaningful day” in the new Opening Doors to Recovery (ODR) program in southeast Georgia. Among 100 participants, we measured the meaningful day construct using three quantitative items at baseline (hospital discharge) and at 4-, 8-, and 12-month follow-up, finding statistically significant linear trends over time for all three measures. Complementary qualitative interviews with 30 individuals (ODR participants, family members, and ODR’s Community Navigation Specialists and program leaders) revealed themes pertaining to companionship, productivity, achieving stability, and autonomy, as well as the concern about insufficient resources. The concept of “a meaningful day” can be a focus of clinical attention and measured as a person-centered outcome for clients served by recovery-oriented community mental health services.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to the last author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA

    Neely A. L. Myers

  2. Pineland Behavioral Health/Developmental Disabilities, Statesboro, GA, USA

    Kelly Smith & Alicia Pope

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA

    Yazeed Alolayan

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Lenox Hill Hospital, 111 E. 77th Street, New York, NY, 10075, USA

    Beth Broussard & Michael T. Compton MD

  5. Savannah Affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Savannah, GA, USA

    Nora Haynes

  6. Department of Psychiatry, Hofstra North Shore – LIJ School of Medicine at Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA

    Michael T. Compton MD

Authors
  1. Neely A. L. Myers
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  2. Kelly Smith
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  3. Alicia Pope
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  4. Yazeed Alolayan
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  5. Beth Broussard
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  6. Nora Haynes
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  7. Michael T. Compton MD
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Correspondence to Michael T. Compton MD.

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The authors report no financial conflicts of interest.

Ethical Standards

This research involved human subjects and was approved by all relevant institutional review boards (IRBs). The study was conducted, and informed consent obtained, following IRB-approved processes. All authors acknowledge responsibility for their contribution to this study and this article.

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Myers, N.A.L., Smith, K., Pope, A. et al. A Mixed-Methods Study of the Recovery Concept, “A Meaningful Day,” in Community Mental Health Services for Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses. Community Ment Health J 52, 747–756 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9971-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9971-4

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