(duplicate) Diagnosis and recovery from schizophrenia.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Significance of the diagnostic label of schizophrenia to recovery: A user perspective
IRAS ID
134415
Contact name
John Carpenter
Contact email
Research summary
This study examines how people diagnosed with schizophrenia describe their experiences of recovery. The traditional focus in mental health practice was on managing the symptoms and not on promoting recovery. However, there is now growing recognition that many people who experience mental distress recover and progress relatively well despite the presence of symptoms of their conditions. This thinking has now gained currency in mental health policy and practice in the UK. The researcher takes the view that people with schizophrenia are able to tell their stories of recovery. A user perspective that views them as experts on their lives is therefore seen as appropriate for this study. A sample of 10 participants will be purposively drawn from community mental health service users in Birmingham. The selection will take into account factors of age, ethnicity and gender of the participants. Semi-structured interviews will be used alongside photovoice to elicit user views. Photovoice involves giving participants a disposable camera with which to take photos to illustrate their lives. These are then printed and discussed in an interview. Qualitative methods were selected because they are flexible and can be adjusted to suit the context of the interviews. This study will be guided by a social constructivist epistemological approach. According to this approach knowledge is a social construction. Viewing knowledge this way will enable the researcher to explore the meanings that users attach to their experiences in context. The analysis of data will be informed by the principles of the grounded theory. It will begin at the same time with data generation. The findings of this study are not intended to be statistically representative but can be used to further explore the concept of recovery.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/WM/0294
Date of REC Opinion
28 Sep 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion