The British research evidence for recovery, papers published between 2006 and 2009 (inclusive). Part Two: a review of the grey literature including book chapters and policy documents

Accessible summary • The majority of articles that have been published about recovery and mental health have been published within the 4 years preceding this literature review. However, there are very articles that review the recovery literature. This article examines the non peer-reviewed or grey literature. • Themes from the non-peer-reviewed literature include: a social, historical and political critique; a philosophy of hope for the individual; individual identity and narrative and models and guidance for mental health practice. • The findings from the study have important implications for clinical practice. To promote recovery in mental health, practitioners need to foster an ‘atmosphere of hope’. This indicates there needs to be shift away from the traditional dominance of the medical model and coercive treatment strategies towards more patient centred care. However, this is difficult to achieve in a statutory care system geared towards risk elimination and containment. In any health care system where ‘forced’ treatment is an option, it is difficult for practitioners to develop relationships which are wholly recovery orientated. • The necessity for therapeutic relations is a strong component of this study. This paper is the second in a series of two which reviews the current UK evidence base for recovery in mental health. As outlined in the previous paper, over the last 4 years a vast amount has written about recovery in mental health (approximately 60% of all articles). Whereas the first review focused on the peer-reviewed evidence; this paper specifically focuses on the grey/non-peer-reviewed literature. In total, our search strategy yielded the following: 3 books, a further 11 book chapters, 12 papers, 6 policy documents and 3 publications from voluntary sector organizations. Each group of publications was analysed for content, and they are discursively presented by publication group. The findings are then presented as themes in the discussion section. The themes are: social, historical and political critique; philosophy of hope for the individual; individual identity and narrative; models and guidance for mental health practice. We conclude that there is a need for both empirical research into recovery and a clearer theoretical exposition of the concept.