EN :

Objective: The core value underlying this study is social inclusion. This paper studies how people with mental health difficulties find meaningful everyday life and identity as members of the community. The study focuses on the experiences and perspectives of individuals with mental health difficulties and their view and interpretation of connections with spaces, places, and people in the communities. It is essential to include their voices and actively involve them in the research process to comprehensively understand their needs, preferences, and goals concerning community-based recovery.

Research Design and Methods: The research exhibits novelty in two fundamental aspects:18 persons with mental health difficulties participated as co-researchers, and for data collection, creative methods were used (creative writing, photovoice, etc.). Co-researchers live in apartment buildings in ordinary neighbourhoods and receive supported housing services in three Estonian cities.

The data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The study combined creative methods such as diary entries, collages, or photovoice to include the first-person perspectives. Involving people with mental health difficulties acting as co-researchers is an innovative approach to this study.

Results: The results identify the effect social interaction and visiting various places in the community can have on people. A place will have a deeper meaning for the person visiting when it relates to memories, emotions, supporting people, and likeable activities they can do there.

Conclusions: It is important for the recovery process that people with mental health difficulties spend time in an environment that is suitable – flexible, appreciative, and supportive of development for them, providing both visual satisfaction, varieties of activity, and undemanding sociality, i.e. possibility to be connected with other people.

EN :

Objective: The frequent occurrence of structural changes can be a frustrating experience for everyone involved. The purpose of this study was to explore how service users within a recovery-oriented low threshold mental health service perceive being part of a structural change process within the service, related to documentation of healthcare in a low threshold context. The change that took place changed the service user’s position from person status to patient status. The study is part of a larger research study where part of it is published elsewhere.

Methods: Photovoice-workshops led to a photovoice exhibition which forms the basis for further analysis. The data from the workshops was interpreted through narrative analysis based on Polkinghorn, in which possible new stories were created by identifying plots in the material. In narrative methodology, 'plot' refers to actions and events driven by tension, which gain meaning through a story. Three plots regarding service users' experiences of being part of the structural change process were identified.

Results: The three plots identified were the plot of unpredictable change, the plot of hope, and the plot of new perspectives. These plots were further written into a coherent narrative, and the results are presented as a new possible story named “A possible story of change.”

Conclusion: The findings present a story of how a structural change process appears in the given context and how it is experienced for the service users affected by the changes.

Funding: This study was funded by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Department of Mental Health.