Carers' Understanding of Recovery-Oriented Practice in Mental Health Settings: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis.
Birhanie Mekuriaw, Natalie Ann Cutler, Jo River
PMID 40195573WHAT IT FOUND
Carers understood recovery-oriented mental health care but said services often prioritised symptoms and medication, excluded them from discharge planning and information, and left them feeling unable to support recovery.
Key findings
01Carers understood the principles of recovery-oriented practice but perceived a gap between those principles and the services they experienced.
02Carers reported being excluded from discharge planning and information, including medication explanations, which they said limited their ability to support the person they cared for.
03Carers valued meaningful occupation, social inclusion and employment as part of recovery, and saw day programmes and community reintegration as important.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review included English-language studies from high-income countries, with only one study in a non-Anglo, American or European setting, so it may not reflect carers in low and middle-income or non-Western contexts. Specialised mental health services were excluded, including substance use, eating disorder, forensic, child and adolescent, and consumer or peer-led services. Many included studies scored low on quality appraisal, and carer views were often mixed with those of staff or people with lived experience. Some recovery-oriented practice domains were represented by only one or two studies. The exact number of carers was unknown because one study did not specify its carer sample. Carers were involved in study design in only one included study.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that involving carers improves patient outcomes. The review synthesises carers' perceptions and experiences from qualitative and mixed-method studies, not tested effects on recovery.