Mental illness affects around 27% (83m.) of Europeans annually (European Social Work, 2013). The European Mental Health Action Plan for 2010-2020 provides for inclusion policies at a national level encouraging policymakers to support the transition towards community-based mental health care. The Council of Ministers invited the member states and the Commission to set up a cooperation process on Mental Health and Well-being, “managing the evolution of community-based and socially-inclusive approaches to mental health” (2011). In mental health, recovery may not always refer to the process of complete recovery from a mental health problem such as depression or psychosis, in the way that we might recover from a physical health problem. Recovery can mean different things to different people, however, for many, recovery is about the realization of goals, and the development of relationships and skills that support a positive life, with or without mental health problems. While there is no universally accepted definition of recovery, one definition, often referred to as the “recovery model” argues for the importance of building the resilience of people with mental health problems and supporting their identity and self-esteem.
“RECADE” will adopt the strength-based approach that does not focus solely on symptoms and which emphasizes resilience and control over life’s challenges. Teleconferences, webinars, and TPM meetings will bring together European stakeholders to engage with the project.
We will conduct focus groups to discover the needs of psychotic or depressive adults and the degree to which their rights are being respected. We will bring society’s attention to the issue of recovery of adults with depression or psychosis which are arguably pervasive disorders that affect tens of millions in Europe.
This is an opportunity to encourage all member states to raise awareness about recovery and to promote early diagnosis and treatment. Partners from Greece, Croatia, Italy and Denmark will include people with lived psychotic or depressive experience in their project team. We will create a course entitled “Recovery for Adults with Depression or Psychosis”. The course will be developed in conjunction with all the partners and associated partners including the University of Montreal in Canada, Yale University and the Recovery College in the Netherlands. We want to emphasise that recovery is a capacity-based, not deficit-based, approach to rehabilitation. The output of the RECADE project will be translated into Greek, French, Italian and English.