Immersing Practitioners in the Recovery Model: An Educational Program Evaluation

The ascendance of the recovery movement in mental health care has led to the development and implementation of educational curricula for mental health providers to assist in mental health care system transformation efforts. The Medical College of Georgia (MCG) partnered with the Georgia State Department of Human Resources (DHR) to develop, implement, and evaluate such an educational curriculum for providers within an academic medical institution. This effort, entitled Project GREAT, led to the creation of a curriculum based on the SAMHSA-defined (2006) critical components of recovery. As an initial evaluation of educational curriculum effectiveness, the authors examined effects of the training program on recovery-based knowledge and recovery-consistent attitudes. We also compared MCG provider knowledge and attitudes to those of a similar group of providers at a neighboring medical institution who did not receive the intervention and training. Findings generally supported the effectiveness of the intervention in increasing providers’ knowledge of recovery and a shift in recovery-supporting attitudes.