Sub plenary: Experiences of hope within mental health and substance use services

ABSTRACT:

Hope is important to recovery processes in a wide range of health conditions, including those associated with mental health and substance abuse. Its implications for research and practice, however, has gained limited attention in relation to co-occurring problems. This presentation will revolve around my PhD thesis and offers an insight in how hope might be experienced from a service user and professional perspective. The presentation also offers some implications to practice and reflections on different ways of approaching the phenomenon hope. The study fits within an action research methodology. Data was collected using in-depth interviews of eight healthcare workers and nine service users. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a thematic analysis was applied.