Provision of a Recovery College

Mental health and wellness are recognised as an important and essential component of health and is fundamental to the ability to live and enjoy life.

Recovery can be a voyage of self-discovery and personal growth, which does not impose limits on people. Experiences of mental illness can provide opportunities for change, reflection and discovery of new values, skills, and interests.

South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership are proposing to commission a Mental Health Recovery College. Recovery Colleges take an educational approach to mental health and is informed by a combination of recovery, adult education, and community education principles.

It is envisaged that the service will provide open access to all from 16 years plus, regardless of whether they are known to mental health services and whether they have a diagnosed mental health condition at the time of presentation. The service will support all patients into recovery (according to their individual recovery goals) whether they have long-term enduring mental health conditions, are nearing a point of crisis or where the individual’s goal is around prevention and early intervention.

Courses are expected to be delivered cover a range of areas; from developing and enhancing social skills, assisting, and promoting recovery, through to development of peer works through peer training (e.g. Peer2Peer) and preparing people to begin or return to work or training for work. Therefore, latterly in a student’s journey in the Recovery College there would be an expectation that they would have access to, where they wish, vocational courses.

Key service deliverables are anticipated to be:

• Pro-active promotion and engagement and will ensure that the service is reaching the community where the need is greatest. This includes ensuring that courses are delivered in each of the three localities within South Ayrshire.
• Support to identify and achieve their individual recovery goals using monitoring tools to map and identify progress towards recovery.
• Commitment to developing a co-produced model within the college as well as a commitment to developing a structured peer support approach by developing individuals into this role as much as possible.
• Service delivery from appropriately qualified staff with the relevant skills and experience and, appropriately, people with lived experience of mental health problems in either an employment or voluntary arrangement.
• Will be required to facilitate the delivery of (and directly deliver if appropriate) courses as per the Recovery College model.
• To be organised and delivered in a way to maximise patient involvement and continued participation until the point of jointly agreed recovery. Individuals should be supported to recover and transition through the Recovery College.