Constructing the Elements of the “Recovery in” Model through Positive Assessments during Mental Health Home Visits

The study provides a categorization of the different elements of the “recovery in” model (RIM). The objective is to analyze elements of RIM in positive assessments during home visit interactions. RIM approaches mental illness as a long-term condition that people live with in their daily lives in their communities. The model emphasizes the rights of all citizens to be full members of their communities regardless of their mental health problems or other difficulties. Positive assessments are professionals’ encouraging evaluations of the activities, situations, or inner conditions expressed by the clients. They are essential in creating supportive professional-client communication. The data analyzed in this study consists of 17 audio-recorded home visits of 10 different clients. Home visits were provided by a mental health floating support service in 2012. The data was analyzed using coding and ethnomethodological interaction research (EIR). As a result RIM is divided into two upper-categories: “Encouraging Doing the Right Thing” and “Encouraging the Right Kind of Personal Growth”. These categories include a wide spectrum of elements that are relevant for the client’s agency in the community. The elements embed the client’s performance in everyday routines and the client’s progress in becoming a skillful, knowledgeable, and involved agent in the community. The categorization of the elements of RIM could be used in educating practitioners to identify and operationalize RIM in mental health home visits.