Models of Recovery in Mental Illness

Background. Discourse on the possibility of recovery from serious mental illness has become increasingly dominant among mental health professionals. Mental health recovery has been conceptualized variously by researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, and persons with mental illness. Several systematic reviews have synthesized the experience of recovery from the perspective of persons with mental illness, and offer different models of recovery. This proposed overview aims to summarize the methodological characteristics of systematic reviews on mental health recovery and to synthesize models of recovery from the perspective of persons with mental illness. Design and analysis. The authors will use systematic review methods to identify and synthesize systematic reviews on the phenomenon of recovery in mental illness. A pre-specified search strategy will be used to search academic databases and libraries of the Campbell Collaboration, Cochrane Collaboration, and Joanna Briggs Institute for published and gray literature. Two authors will independently screen titles/abstracts and full texts. Authors will pilot the data extraction form before independently extracting data and appraising study quality. Reflexive thematic analysis, informed by a hermeneutic orientation towards the included texts, will be used to synthesize models of recovery presented in eligible studies. Discussion. This overview will synthesize systematic review evidence on consumer perspectives of mental health recovery. Findings could inform future research, clinical practice, and policy by elucidating similarities and differences in recovery models across demographic or diagnostic categories and identifying how environmental, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors contribute to recovery. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD4201914297

Firearm injury among people experiencing homelessness: Cross-sectional evidence from a national survey of United States emergency departments

OBJECTIVES: Persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) are at high risk for violent victimization. This study leverages unique data from a national study in the United States of America to provide estimates of non-fatal firearm injury among PEH and to describe the contexts related to injury, such as substance use, intent of the injury, and precipitating interpersonal factors. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS: Data from the 1993-2020 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Firearm Injury Surveillance Study (NEISS-FISS) were used to describe the context and characteristics of non-fatal firearm injury among PEH aged 16 years or older. Homeless status and substance use data were extracted from a de-identified narrative field. Estimates were weighted to account for the NEISS-FISS complex sampling design. RESULTS: Probable homelessness was identified in 0.10% of cases (n = 3,225). Substance use was documented in 22.73% of cases. Assault comprised 82.64% of injuries. Patients were mostly male (81.38%). Missing data were common on contextual variables: verbal argument (64.62%), physical fight (54.48%) or other criminal activity (62.33%). CONCLUSIONS: Assault is a leading cause of non-fatal firearm injury for PEH and is greater than rates of assault in non-fatal firearm injuries in the general population. Substance use was documented in nearly one quarter of patients, although this is less than expected given prior evidence. Reliance on narrative fields for key variables likely underestimates rates of PEH and substance use

Crafting, Communality, and Computing: Building on Existing Strengths To Support a Vulnerable Population

In Nepal, sex-trafficking survivors and the organizations that support them have limited resources to assist the survivors in their on-going journey towards reintegration. We take an asset-based approach wherein we identify and build on the strengths possessed by such groups. In this work, we present reflections from introducing a voice-annotated web application to a group of survivors. The web application tapped into and built upon two elements of pre-existing strengths possessed by the survivors -- the social bond between them and knowledge of crafting as taught to them by the organization. Our findings provide insight into the array of factors influencing how the survivors act in relation to one another as they created novel use practices and adapted the technology. Experience with the application seemed to open knowledge of computing as a potential source of strength. Finally, we articulate three design desiderata that could help promote communal spaces: make activity perceptible to the group, create appropriable steps, and build in fun choices.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'20