title: Using qualitative research to inform mental health policy.
abstract: This article offers examples of the ways in which qualitative methods have informed, and may inform, mental health policy in Canada and beyond. Three initial uses of these methods are identified: to generate hypotheses to be tested by other means; to explore the subjective experiences and everyday lives of people with mental illnesses; and to investigate processes of recovery and the active role of the individual in recovery. Given the recent focus in mental health policy in Canada, the United States, and around the world on transforming mental health systems to promote recovery and the emphasis recovery places on the individual's own first-hand perspective, we argue that qualitative methods will become increasingly useful as psychiatry shifts away from symptom reduction to enabling people to live satisfying, hopeful, and meaningful lives in the community.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and Institution for Social and Policy Studies, New Haven, CT 06513, USA. larry.davidson@yale.edu
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: Priscilla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ridgway
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kidd
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Topor
authors.forename: Marit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borg
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002170:Canada; D003289:Convalescence; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011050:Policy Making