DEVELOPMENT AND PILOT ASSESSMENT OF A RECOVERY COLLEGE FOR PEOPLE WITH SEVERE MENTAL DISORDER IN SÃO PAULO

• Grant number: 22/06698-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2022
• End date: September 18, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Ary Gadelha de Alencar Araripe Neto
• Grantee: José Alberto Orsi
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

RRecovery-oriented practices have been the focus of mental health policies in several countries, especially English-speaking ones. The most stood out among the recovery-oriented interventions are the Recovery Colleges, which are educational programs based on the theory and practice of adult education. The general objective of this study is to develop and test, in a pilot way, a Recovery College program, integrated to the projects of a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in mental health in São Paulo. A mixed methods study is proposed, which will be divided into the following steps: (1) literature review, with narrative synthesis, of Brazilian qualitative studies on the definition of the recovery process by users of mental health services; (2) development of the Recovery College, comprising: (2.1) literature review and sending a questionnaire to established Recovery College programs to learn about the main characteristics and structures of this type of intervention; (2.2) definition and structuring of a Recovery College in the Brazilian context, through a panel of experts, using the Delphi method, based on material synthesis from the previous steps; (3) evaluation of the intervention, comprising: (3.1) pilot and feasibility study of the intervention; (3.2) evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention, through a quasi-experimental study, with a sample of users of community mental health services and a control group as usual treatment. In this last step, the primary outcome will be the level of well-being and empowerment, using linear regression of mixed effects as the method of analysis.