Recently, Compass Recovery College has been asking people to tell us a little more about what they feel they have got out of participating in a workshop. This information helps us understand what people value about Compass and shows us where we can improve in areas that are important to people’s recovery.
In terms of numbers it was a busy term. We ran 18 workshops and socials groups. 190 people registered with us and 150 attended a workshop session!
Last term we started asking people what they felt they got out of attending a workshop. These questions were chosen by our participants themselves in one of our feedback forums, and therefore represent the outcomes that people coming to our workshops most value in terms of their recovery journey. Over 70% of responders agreed with each of the statements. From this information we can see that most people felt they gained new skills and a connection to others as a result of participating in a Compass workshop. These strongly relate to Connection and Empowerment, which research has shown to be key factors that positively influence people’s recovery. (Leamy et al, 2011)
We also asked people about how they were feeling before and after the workshop. Again, these statements were chosen by our participants during our feedback forums and reflect people’s priorities when it comes to thinking about their wellbeing
As we can see, average agreement with all the statements increased, but the biggest change was seen in participants’ ability to recognise the positive things they had done, which can relate to Empowerment and Hope, both of which are key in people’s recovery.
Overall, the results show us that people generally felt more positive about aspects of their recovery that were important to them after they have participated in a Compass workshop. This is heartening to see – obviously other factors will be affecting these answers, but we like to think that Compass has made a positive contribution!
References:
Leamy M, Bird V, Le Boutillier C, Williams J, Slade M (2011) A conceptual framework for personal recovery in mental health: systematic review and narrative synthesis, British Journal of Psychiatry, 199, 445-452.
