Implementation of Illness Management and Recovery in Mental Health Services

Implementation of Illness Management and Recovery in Mental Health Services: Facilitators and Barriers in the Implementation Process.

The purpose of this study is to examine the barriers and facilitators of implementing Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) in Norwegian mental health services.

IMR is an evidence-based practice developed for people with severe mental illnesses. It is based on the principles of recovery to help people set individual meaningful goals for their lives and gain illness self-management skills and thereby contribute to their individual recovery-process. IMR can be given individually or in groups, once a week for 10-12 months.

In this project the investigators will implement Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) in mental health services. The implementation strategy are carried out according to the IMR toolkits which include informational and training materials, implementation recommendations, and fidelity scales to facilitate use of the model in routine practices. The implementation process and outcome will be of main focus.

The study has an observational prospective cohort design. 30 therapists from 9 different mental health services will be trained and supervised in IMR. The investigators aim to enrol 40 patients. The primary outcome is therapists' fidelity to the model and organisational implementation outcome. Secondary outcomes are patients' level of functioning and hope.

Inclusion Criteria Therapists:

• Voluntary recruited therapists in the participating mental health services
• trained and consulted in IMR

Inclusion Criteria Patients:

• Adults (18+)
• Associated with one of the participating mental health services
• symptoms on or diagnosis of severe mental illness with or without drug abuse
• giving informed consent verbally and in writing

Exclusion Criteria Patients:

• Patients with acute risk of suicidal behaviour
• not able to communicate in Norwegian