Implementing recovery: an analysis of the key technologies in Scotland

Drawing on documentary analysis and a series of interviews we examine the construction and implementation of four key recovery 'technologies' as they have been put to use in Scotland: recovery narratives, the Scottish Recovery Indicator (SRI), Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) and peer support.Our findings illuminate how each of these technologies works to instantiate, exemplify and disseminate a 'recovery orientation' at different sites within the mental health system in order to bring about a 'recovery oriented' mental health system. They also enable us to identify some of the factors that facilitate or hinder the effectiveness of those technologies in bringing about a change in how mental health services are delivered in Scotland. These finding provide a basis for some general reflections on the utility of 'recovery technologies' to implement a shift towards recovery in mental health services in Scotland and elsewhere.Our analysis of this process within the Scottish context will be valuable for policy makers and service coordinators wishing to implement recovery values within their own national mental health systems.In recent years, the promotion of recovery has been adopted as a declared aim of mental health policy in a number of countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States [1-3]. Quite what is meant by recovery in these different settings is difficult to pin down with any degree of specificity. Recovery is not defined by any particular set of therapeutic or preventive practices or services; rather, it represents a more general if rather vague philosophy of mental health care.However, it is possible to identify a number of key values at the heart of the idea of recovery. Central to these is the idea that recovery is a highly individual process, that is best achieved by utilising an individual's own knowledge and experiences of coping with mental illness and working towards mental wellbeing. Consequently, effective delivery of t