How the pandemic changed Recovery Colleges: A multi-site qualitative study

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health problems increased whilst access to clinical mental health services reduced. Recovery Colleges (RCs) are recovery-focussed adult education initiatives delivered by people with professional and lived mental health expertise. Designed to be collaborative and inclusive, RCs were uniquely positioned to support people experiencing mental health problems during the pandemic. There is limited research exploring the lasting impacts of the pandemic on RC operation and delivery to students.Aims: To ascertain how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the operation of RCs in England.Method: A coproduced qualitative interview study of RC managers across the UK. Academics and coresearchers with lived mental health experience collaborated on conducting interviews and analysing data using a collaborative thematic framework analysis.Results: Thirty-one RC managers participated. Five themes were identified: Complex organisational relationships; Changed ways of working; Navigating the rapid transition to digital delivery; Responding to isolation; and Changes to accessibility. Two key pandemic-related changes to RC operation were highlighted: their use as accessible services that relieve pressure on mental health services through hybrid face-to-face and digital course delivery; and the development of digitally delivered courses for individuals with mental health needs.Conclusions: The pandemic either led to or accelerated developments in RC operation, leading to a positioning of RCs as a preventative service with wider accessibility to: people with mental health problems; people under the care of forensic mental health services; and mental healthcare staff. These benefits are strengthened by relationships with partner organisations and autonomy from statutory healthcare infrastructures