Promoting Recovery-Oriented Mental Health Care

This assignment explores the concept of recovery-oriented mental health care. It delves into the principles, benefits, and implementation strategies of this approach. The document highlights the importance of patient empowerment, personalized treatment plans, and building a supportive network for individuals experiencing mental health challenges. It also discusses various interventions and resources that contribute to recovery, emphasizing the need to move beyond traditional medical models towards a holistic and person-centered approach.

Running Head: MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
Mental health nursing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
In metal health, setting the term recovery does not always means free from symptoms and
signs of illnesses or a complete cure (Health.gov.au., 2017). From the perspective of the mentally
ill patient, recovery refers to understanding one’s abilities and disabilities, retaining hope, able to
find purpose to life, developed a positive sense of self, gaining personal autonomy, active
engagement in life and having a social identity (Department of Health, 2017). It means that
personal recovery and clinical recovery are two different aspects although they both have same
goals. The assignment deals with the case study of Jeremy Oxley a lead singer of the band name
“The Sunnyboys”. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, lived with it for 30 years, and yet made
comeback to his stage after recovery. The aim of the assignment is to use the National Recovery
Framework and its six principles to explore the lived experiences of Jeremy as depicted in the
documentary “SunnyBoys”. The essay investigates the meaning of personal recovery to client
and justifies the need of both clinical and personal recovery.
To start with, the case study of Jeremy, the first and the foremost thing to be discussed is
his lifestyle as evident from the documentary provided. As per the documentary of Jeremy
Oxley, he is a famous guitarist. He was the leader of the popular Australian band, “Sunnyboys”
(The Sunnyboy, 2013). It is evident from the video that Jeremy had remarkable journey with
illness of 30 years. At the age of 18, Jeremy became popular as singer and songwriter in
Australia. He achieved great success together with his brother Peter who was a bass guitarist in
the same band. With his success his schedule became quite hectic with recording sessions and
travelling places relentlessly. This increased his stress level so much that it leads to physical
burnout and mental distress. The first sign of his health crushing down was evident when he
walked out of the the Enmore Theatre on April 2012. No one could comprehend this behaviour
but it appears that stress absorbed Jeremy into the tunnel of schizophrenia. In the documentary, it

2MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
was mentioned that the Jeremy was fun loving person. His childhood friend Bill Bilson
(drummer) described him as “perfectionist”. However, with the increasing level of stress in his
life, Jeremy turned to be arrogant, rude, disturbed with paranoid thoughts. He even attended
shows in drunken state and was engaged in drug abuse. He continued to give poor performance
that gave him negative publicity. This indicates increasing negative impact of Schizophrenia.
Even Peter could not comprehend the Bizarre behaviour of Jeremy.
Taking the perspective of Jeremy from the video, it was evident that the Jeremy was not
able to comprehend his illness. He failed to accept that he was suffering from schizophrenia. He
therefore, denied the medical treatment. He was noncompliant to the treatment. Further, he never
followed healthy regime despite having unusual heart rhythms and diabetes. He turned out to be
a complex personality for people around him. He was experiencing auditory hallucinations. He
assumed that people preferred his brother more and that he was stolen of his music. Listening to
voices, assuming things and lack of self-care was the classic symptoms of Schizophrenia (Kate et
al., 2013). In the video, it was mentioned that Jeremy could hear more than one voice. It is of
great diagnostic significance as they are first rank symptoms of Schizophrenia. According to
Chandra et al., (2014) people with the psychotic episodes are not willing to understand their
illness and remain in state of denial. It consequently affects the quality of life of the patient and
the recovery process. The same was depicted in the video as well.
Clinical recovery and personal recovery are two different aspects. Personal recovery
relates to how an individual with mental illness undergo change in terms of attitude, perception,
values of life, role play and feelings (McGorry, 2014). This recovery is not based on the clinical
treatment (Cavelti, Homan & Vauth, 2016). Instead, it is a unique process of change to have
fulfilled life and live with purpose despite limitations of illness. Recovery as a whole is

3MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
recovering from the internal as well as external factors. Internal conditions as described by the
person recovering include healing, empowerment, hope and connection. External factors are
those conditions t facilitate the recovery of the person. It can include positive culture,
implementation of human rights, a positive feelings and recovery oriented service (Chien et al.,
2013). These changes are necessary to cope up with the catastrophic events of illness. Personal
recovery occurs through mental support, guidance, along with change in one’s attitude towards
life (Hasson-Ohayon et al., 2014). In case of Jeremy, the personal recovery occurred due to his
wife Mary, who accepted him despite illness and supported his throughout his illness. Along
with his wife, his two children Kieran and Lachlan also assisted Jeremy in personal recovery.
There are six principles of the national recovery framework in mental health practice.
These includes uniqueness of the individual, real choices, attitudes and rights, dignity and
respect, partnership and communication, and lastly evaluating the recovery (Health.gov.au.,
2017). Out of these six principles, Mary’s care for Jeremy demonstrates the use of fourth of the
six principles, which will be discussed in the subsequent sections.
The first principle called “Uniqueness of the individual” in recovery oriented mental
health practice. It emphasise on the helping the patient to have meaningful and purposeful life by
making them feel the centre of care (Health.gov.au., 2017). Mary helped Jeremy to make healthy
choices. She made him a part of her family despite his illness and involved children. This helped
him find the meaning in living a life with his family. He earned a social identify due to his wife
and two children. This led to social inclusion and eventually improved the quality of his life. He
felt empowered with love of his children and wife and he felt important to have this life. He felt
that his life has a unique purpose because with his wife he felt like a valued member of the
community.

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The second principle refers to the real choices, which emphasise on supporting the
patients to empower them to make choices for healthy living. The caregiver should support the
patient to gain strength and be more responsible for their lives. This principle emphasise on
balancing the support and the duty of care so that the patient can take risks. It will help the
individuals to use the new opportunities (Health.gov.au., 2017). In case of Jeremy, Mary helped
to become more responsible for life. Jeremy was engaged with his children in teaching them
guitar. Fulfilling the role of father made him feel more responsible in his life. It improved his self
image which is the sign of personal recovery (Shanks et al., 2013). He was engaged in painting
so that he can vent out his feelings. It gave him strength by expressing his emotions and
philosophy. Involving in painting gave him new opportunity to deal with stress.
The fourth principle called, “Dignity and respect” in recovery process refers to being
courteous with the patient. Being respect and honest in all the interactions. This principle
emphasises on being sensitive to all the needs of the patient and respects the same. The caregiver
must respect the values, beliefs and culture of the patient (Health.gov.au., 2017). Mary respected
Jeremy and maintained his dignity as family person. Both the children engaged in active
conversation with Jeremy. His children too gave him sufficient time for supporting him. He thus
felt that his values and beliefs are respected. He felt that he was given autonomy.
Mary also used the fifth principle of the national recovery framework, which deals with
the partnership and communication (Health.gov.au., 2017). It emphasises on caring an individual
in a manner that will make sense to them. Mary had partnership with the clinicians and gave
Jeremy person centered care. She did not rely solely on the medication. Involving her husband in
family interaction made him realise his goals and aspirations. She communicated with him all the
relevant information that helped him accept his illness and deal with it.

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It was found from the video that Jeremy was able to gain confidence to join back his
stage and pop-music industry. It is a measure of good recovery orientation process (Williams et
al., 2017). He is still seeking meaning to his illness and yet is hopeful about his future. He is
more optimistic about life. This is the perfect example of application of National Recovery
Framework.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the paper that the personal recovery is different from the
clinical recovery. Although both have same goals, it is difficult to define recovery, as it is
different for each customer. It is necessary for the mental health professionals to understand to
two different aspects of recovery and design the care plan accordingly. The lived experiences of
one patient may not be same as other mentally ill patient. Patients with lived experiences also
encounter stigma, social isolation. Therefore, it is essential to be sensitive to their needs and
provide collaborative care for full personal recivery. In conclusion applying this framework will
help the mental health care providers to assist the patients in new way so that they can live
contributing life. The framework is useful in fostering new service design for the patients living
with complex mental illnesses. It is recommended to all the Australian jurisdictions to take the
responsibility of promoting and implementing the framework.

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References
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alliance and personal recovery in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: An
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medication and reasons for non-compliance in patients with schizophrenia. Indian
journal of psychological medicine, 36(3), 294.
Chien, W. T., Leung, S. F., Yeung, F. K., & Wong, W. K. (2013). Current approaches to
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