The April, 2014 Psychiatric Services Online Journal included a review of research on peer involvement in delivering services to persons with mental health challenges. This study was sponsored as part of the SAMHSA funded effort to document evidence based services. The review is entitled Peer Support Services for Individuals With Serious Mental Illnesses: Assessing the Evidence. The Wellness Recovery Action Plan was one of the evidence based practices that was reviewed.
The objective of the report was to evaluate the level of evidence and effectiveness of peer support services and it reviewed articles in three types of settings; peers added to existing service formats, peers in existing clinical roles such as doctors and therapists, and Peer Delivered Curricula. In this latter category, WRAP was reviewed and was represented by research by Dr. Judith Cook.
The review concluded that Peer Delivered Curricula, including the Wellness Recovery Action Plan, had the best evidence base for support. The report went on to state that insurers would have a rationale to include payment for such peer delivered curriculum.
Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD, developed Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) with a group of people with lived experience who were attending a mental health recovery workshop in 1997. She is the original author of the WRAP Red Book, as well as dozens of other WRAP books and materials. She has dedicated the last 30 years of her life to learning from people who have mental health issues; discovering the simple, safe, non-invasive ways they get well, stay well, and move forward in their lives; and then sharing what she has learned with others through keynote addresses, trainings, and the development of books, curriculums, and other resources. Now that she is retired, and that, as she intended, others are continuing to share what she has learned, she continues to learn from those who have mental health issues and those who support them. She is a frequent contributor to this site.
