title: Defining recovery: an interactionist analysis of mental health policy development, Wisconsin 1996-1999.
abstract: The author examines how, as part of a reform of Wisconsin's public mental health system, a workgroup of system stakeholders defined and operationalized the concept of recovery. Based on participant observation, document analysis, and interviews, with an analytic framework drawn from symbolic interactionism, the author finds that although individual members held a range of definitions of recovery, the workgroup was able to reach consensus in its policy recommendations through processual means and by tacitly agreeing on a set of overarching values that were flexible enough to accommodate many definitions.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addition and Mental Health, 33 Russell St., 3rd Floor Tower, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2S1, Canada. nora_jacobson@camh.net
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jacobson
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011050:Policy Making; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012107:Research Design; D014922:Wisconsin