How do you foster a recovery-oriented culture in your organization or team?

1 Understand recovery

Recovery is not a one-size-fits-all concept. It is a personal and dynamic process that involves overcoming challenges, coping with setbacks, and finding purpose and satisfaction. Recovery is not necessarily about curing symptoms or eliminating substance use, but about living well with or without them. To foster a recovery-oriented culture, you need to understand and respect the different ways that people define and experience recovery, and avoid imposing your own expectations or judgments.

2 Promote collaboration

Collaboration is essential for creating a recovery-oriented culture. It means working with people, not for them or on them. It means involving people in decision-making, planning, and evaluation of services and programs. It means recognizing and valuing the expertise and contributions of people with lived experience, peers, family members, and other stakeholders. To foster a recovery-oriented culture, you need to create opportunities for dialogue, feedback, and co-production, and use tools and techniques that facilitate collaboration, such as shared decision making, recovery plans, and peer support.

3 Embrace diversity

Diversity is a strength and a resource for recovery. It refers to the variety of backgrounds, identities, perspectives, and preferences that people bring to the recovery process. Diversity includes factors such as culture, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, disability, religion, and spirituality. To foster a recovery-oriented culture, you need to acknowledge and celebrate diversity, and ensure that your services and programs are culturally responsive, inclusive, and accessible. You also need to challenge stigma, discrimination, and oppression, and promote human rights and social justice.

4 Support learning

Learning is a key component of recovery. It involves acquiring new knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable people to cope, adapt, and grow. Learning can take place in formal or informal settings, such as education, training, work, volunteering, hobbies, or peer groups. Learning can also involve sharing and exchanging experiences, insights, and resources with others. To foster a recovery-oriented culture, you need to provide and support learning opportunities for people using your services and programs, as well as for your staff and team members. You also need to encourage reflection, evaluation, and innovation, and use evidence-based and recovery-oriented practices.

5 Build strengths

Strengths are the positive qualities, abilities, and resources that people have or can develop to support their recovery. Strengths can be personal, such as resilience, optimism, or creativity, or relational, such as social support, networks, or community. Strengths can also be environmental, such as safe housing, income, or access to services. To foster a recovery-oriented culture, you need to identify and build on the strengths of people using your services and programs, as well as your staff and team members. You also need to create a strengths-based environment that enhances well-being, autonomy, and participation.

Fostering a recovery-oriented culture in your organization or team is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process that requires commitment, leadership, and collaboration. It can bring many benefits for people with mental health and substance abuse issues, as well as for your staff and team members, such as improved outcomes, satisfaction, engagement, and morale. It can also help you align with the values and standards of the human services field and respond to the needs and preferences of your clients and communities.