RECOVERY CONCEPTUALIZATIONS IN YOUTH WITH MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS UNDERGOING COMMUNITY REINTEGRATION FOLLOWING HOSPITALIZATION

Abstract

Introduction: Recovery conceptualizations, or how one approaches recovery, have important implications for treatment and recovery trajectories after a person develops a mental health concern. If psychiatric hospitalization has occurred, an important step in the recovery process is community reintegration, but it is unknown how this process is connected to recovery conceptualizations during mental health recovery. This study examined this connection through the perspectives of youth, a demographic too often ignored within mental health research. Methods: An exploratory qualitative methodology was used, framed by Merriam’s (1998) process case study work. The process was bounded by the concept of recovery in youth, and occurring within the context of community reintegration. Conclusions: Youth pursued recovery in a variety of ways but utilized the recovery paradigm as an overarching guide for the process. The recovery paradigm impacted which services they pursued and how they sought to be functioning over symptom-free through their service access.