In behavioral health, recovery-oriented care is a holistic approach to treatment that focuses on empowering individuals to live fulfilling lives, even while managing mental health or substance use conditions. A key component of this model is helping clients develop a robust personal identity which can serve as a foundation for resilience, self-determination, and well-being.
“There are a lot of folks out there that don’t know where to go, what to do, and are afraid of taking that first step. So continually challenging ourselves to find more ways to engage the community and create access for individuals in need is definitely one of our priorities.” Jill Wiedemann-West, CEO of People Incorporated
At the core of recovery-oriented care model is client involvement. This complements the medical model and requires the client’s consent to develop custom goals for their recovery and meet lifestyle goals. Clients must maintain personal motivation to foster a sense of hope, purpose, and belonging. In general, this is done by creating a coaching relationship between clients and the mental health professionals who are treating them.
The Effectiveness of Recovery-Oriented Care in Inpatient Settings
A study by Walden University shows that psychiatric healthcare recovery-oriented teams have proven successful in rehabilitative behavioral health facilities. They have seen more positive health outcomes than in settings where clients are isolated during recovery. These findings include better rates of success with higher quality of care and consumer satisfaction. These two factors affect the sustainability of healthcare systems implementing recovery care, impacting increased productivity and operational efficiency.
Further research by Clear Steps Recovery has also highlighted the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to recovery-oriented care. Effective programs typically involve a team of professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and peer support specialists, working together to address the client’s individual needs.
By focusing on client empowerment, self-determination, and long-term recovery, this approach can help to enhance quality of life, reduce readmissions, and improve overall client satisfaction.
Key Principles of Care
- Treatment supports a person in defining their goals and aspirations.
- Personalized and strengths-based care must be responsive to a client’s specific needs, strengths, circumstances, and preferences.
- Focus on an individual’s self-determination and self-management of their mental health and wellbeing.
- An integrated approach must cover factors impacting a person’s wellbeing, including family and social relationships, housing, education, and employment.
- Propel a person’s social inclusion and community participation.
- Staff should be equipped with the necessary training, support, and flexibility to adapt their approach to meet the unique needs and preferences of each client.
Creating a Supportive Environment for Recovery-Oriented Care
The University of Melbourne Health Science published guidelines for a successful facility-based recovery-oriented care program. They found organizational culture to be the hallmark of sustainable success. A commitment to help reorient to a recovery approach was necessary, embedding recovery principles throughout treatment. These values and principles could then be implemented in all management processes, including operational policies, staff recruitment, professional development of recovery values and language, supervision, appraisal, audit, and service planning.
“Our clients, in many cases, have had really bad experiences trying to seek care. We want to always find a way to really engage them in not just services, but also in empowering them to be the commander of their own plan. We want to move them forward in towards recovery, a better quality of life, more managed symptoms, whatever that might be. It’s very, very important that we continually learn about what that means to them and how to really engage them.” Jill Wiedemann-West, CEO of People Incorporated.
Expected Outcomes and Benefits of Recovery-Oriented Care
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), recovery-oriented care management shifts from an acute to a chronic care approach. This reflects the treatment model’s commitment to long-term wellness support. The principles supporting this type of care address the screening of health conditions, early intervention, medication management, treatment plans, and reinforcement of healthy lifestyles.
“One of our focuses is providing integrated solutions for our clients, providing integrated care, making sure that, whether it’s a client who’s in one of our outpatient services, maybe they’re a case management client, maybe they’re at one of our residential programs, that we’re able to seamlessly sew those pieces together. The ability to access to things like an integrated treatment plan across our programs has been critical.” Mike Turpin, Chief Administrative Officer of People Incorporated
It’s the role of the behavioral health provider to coordinate access to resources and create engagement for each client. The collaborative work, including criminal justice, education, child welfare, primary care, and others needed, supplies the support necessary to sustain recovery. There is no singular formula for practices that serve everyone equally, so providers need to assess every client and determine what resources will be most effective for their situation and treatment plan.
What Are the Elements of Effective Recovery-Oriented Care?
A Focus on Peer Support
By incorporating individuals with similar lived experiences into training, development, and quality improvement initiatives, we can ensure that the care provided is client-centered and responsive to their personal needs.
This enables the use of evidence-based interventions that help achieve the best outcomes for the client’s mental health and wellbeing.
To help further the use of recovery-oriented care models, SAMHSA developed the National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification to “promote the universal adoption, recognition, and integration of the peer mental health workforce across all elements of the healthcare system.”
“Resource utilization and thinking innovatively to meet community needs is of utmost importance. Leveraging resources like your EHR provider and collaborating with community partners can help organizations reach a broader audience. It is also important to learn from others’ experiences and avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts, as there’s often no need to reinvent the wheel.” Tynese Breaux, LCSW-BACS, Acadiana Area Human Services District’s Practice Manager and Project Director.
Continuous Self-Evaluation
Recovery-oriented client care involves many factors, and success requires inpatient mental health practices to constantly evaluate processes and client recoveries.
Regular evaluation is essential for ensuring the long-term success of recovery-oriented mental health care programs. It helps us understand what works, what doesn’t, and how to allocate resources effectively. Data-driven insights guide clinicians and staff in providing the best possible care to our patients. With the right electronic health record (EHR) system, providers can use custom built dashboards to help display relevant data, assisting in creating effective care plans. On the consumer side, this helps a client’s decision making and in educating their life experience peers.
“When those reports land in people’s inboxes, the people who use them to guide decisions can clearly see what they need to do next to achieve continued sustainability.” Joseph Garcia, Director of Information Technology for David Lawrence Centers for Behavioral Health
With mechanisms to collect further health information and clinical operations data, it’s possible to find areas for performance improvements. By using these outcome measures, surveys, and quality audits, providers can continuously evaluate and improve their services to better meet the needs of their clients.
Supporting Recovery After Inpatient Treatment
SAMHSA outlines four dimensions that support recovery following inpatient treatment:
- Health: To manage or recover from mental illness, people must make choices that support both their physical and mental well-being.
- Home: People need a safe and stable place to live.
- Purpose: Meaningful daily routines such as school, work, family, and community participation, are vital to promoting ongoing wellness.
- Community: Supportive social relationships provide love, emotional availability, and the respect people need to support mental health.
Enhancing Inpatient Care with Process Automation
In inpatient care facilities, streamlining client records management is essential for providing effective, recovery-oriented care. By automating workflows, data management, and notetaking, providers can improve client outcomes, enhance communication among care providers, and foster the client-centered approach that this care model requires.
With Qualifacts’ configurable solutions, your practice can create workflows that match how your providers offer care to their clients, and our AI solution, Qualifacts iQ, auto-generates encounter notes to enhance the note-taking process. This promotes efficiency and productivity for your staff, reducing the time spent in the EHR and increasing time focused on the clients in front of them.
“Artificial intelligence can significantly improve the efficiency of clinical documentation. It’s a great example of the ‘art of the possible.’ By automating tasks and reducing administrative burdens, we can free up clinicians to focus on what they do best: providing exceptional patient care,” said Josh Schoeller, CEO of Qualifacts.
