The research paper by Mary Ellen Copeland and six others, entitled A Randomized Controlled Trial of Effects of Wellness Recovery Action Planning on Depression, Anxiety, and Recoveryl, has been published in the April 15, 2012, online journal Psychiatry Online, Psychiatric Services in Advance: A Journal of the American Psychiatric Association.
This study reports findings from a controlled trial that conclude that training in mental illness self-management reduced depression and anxiety and improved participants’ self-perceived recovery over time. Results confirmed the importance of WRAP as part of a group of evidence-based, recovery-oriented interventions.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) self-management intervention in reducing depression and anxiety and in increasing self-perceived recovery among individuals with a serious mental illness. Methods: Participants were recruited from outpatient community mental health settings in six Ohio communities: Canton, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Lorain, and Toledo. With a single-blind, randomized controlled trial design, 519 individuals were assigned to WRAP or to services as usual and assessed at baseline and at two- and eight-month follow-ups. The intervention consisted of eight weekly 2.5-hour sessions delivered by peers in recovery from serious mental illness who were certified WRAP educators. Results: The mean number of WRAP sessions attended was five, and fidelity ranged from 90% to 92%. Analysis using mixed-effects random regression revealed interactions of study condition by time in each outcome area. Compared with the control group, intervention participants reported significantly greater reduction over time in Brief Symptom Inventory depression and anxiety subscales and significantly greater improvement in total Recovery Assessment Scale scores as well as the subscales measuring personal confidence and goal orientation. Conclusions: Training in mental illness self-management reduced depression and anxiety and improved participants’ self-perceived recovery over time. Results confirmed the importance of WRAP as part of a group of evidence-based, recovery-oriented interventions. (Psychiatric Services in Advance, April 15, 2012; doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201100125)
Click here to read the complete article: http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=1103904
The research paper entitled Improving Propensity for Patient Self-Advocacy Through Wellness Recovery Action Planning: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial was first published in the Community Mental Health Journal in December of 2011.
This study reports findings from a controlled trial comparing propensity for patient self-advocacy among those who received a peer-led mental illness self-management intervention called WRAP®, and those who received usual care.
WRAP® participants were significantly more likely to engage in self-advocacy with their service providers. Higher self-advocacy was associated with greater hopefulness, better environmental quality of life, and fewer psychiatric symptoms among the intervention group. These findings provide even more support for the positive impact of peer-led self-management programs on mental health recovery.
Click here for a related article, “When Adherence is A Dirty Word” by Steven Balt, MD
Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD, developed Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) with a group of people with lived experience who were attending a mental health recovery workshop in 1997. She is the original author of the WRAP Red Book, as well as dozens of other WRAP books and materials. She has dedicated the last 30 years of her life to learning from people who have mental health issues; discovering the simple, safe, non-invasive ways they get well, stay well, and move forward in their lives; and then sharing what she has learned with others through keynote addresses, trainings, and the development of books, curriculums, and other resources. Now that she is retired, and that, as she intended, others are continuing to share what she has learned, she continues to learn from those who have mental health issues and those who support them. She is a frequent contributor to this site.
