Over the last few years progress has been made across the world to improve the quality of services delivered to people with mental health problems. The concept of recovery is central to many of these changes – both as a philosophy and practical approach to working with people in distress.
Dr Mike Slade, the report author, is a consultant clinical psychologist with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and a Reader within the Health Service and Population Research Department at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. During 2007 he spent time away from London-based clinical practice and research programmes to learn about recovery practices across Europe, America and Australia. This report and the linked publication, Personal recovery and mental illness1, make suggestions based on what he found.