Investigating the Meaning and (Cost-)Effectiveness of Dutch Recovery Colleges

NCT05620212 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: TSB_RP390
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 142
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 4

Brief Summary

Recovery colleges (RC) aim to promote the recovery of people who experience mental vulnerabilities. Rather than facilitating treatment of illness (as regular mental health care services \[MHCS\] do), RCs are learning environments, with a special focus on peer support and co-creation. While MHCS are founded on scientific and professional knowledge, RCs value the knowledge and abilities of those with lived experiences as such. By sharing experiences, RC attendees can inspire and support each other (hence 'peer support') and they can use their experiences to contribute to the educational program (hence 'co-creation'). In the Netherlands RCs are 100% peer run, meaning that no mental health care workers are involved. Despite promising premature findings on the effectiveness of RC attendance (e.g., positive impacts on MHCS use, mental wellbeing and functioning, quality of life, empowerment and more), large, controlled studies are extremely scarce. Furthermore, the way RCs are managed in the Netherlands seems to differ from the RCs that have been studied before. While RCs in some countries are a coproduction of peers and mental health practitioners, RCs in the Netherlands are 100% peer run, although they are usually hosted by MHCS. In turn, this research project aims to investigate the (cost-)effectiveness of RCs in the Netherlands. In terms of effectiveness, we expect that RC attendance improves feelings of empowerment. Besides, we investigate impacts on quality of life, mental health, loneliness, satisfaction with treatment and support and self-stigma. We also determine the cost-effectiveness of Dutch RCs.

Conditions

Severe Mental Illness; Mental Vulnerabilities

Keywords

Recovery Colleges; Empowerment; Severe Mental Illness; Recovery; Effectiveness; Cost-effectiveness

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Empowerment

  Operationalized by means of four subscales (Confidence and Purpose, Connectedness, Self-management and Professional help) of the Netherlands Empowerment List. Source: Boevink, W., Kroon, H., Delespaul, P., \& Van Os, J. (2016). Empowerment according to persons with severe mental illness: development of the Netherlands empowerment list and its psychometric properties. Open Journal of Psychiatry, 7(1), 18-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpsych.2017.71002

  t0 = baseline, t1= 1 year later, t2 = 2 years later.

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Change in Quality of Life (effectiveness)

  t0 = baseline, t1= 1 year later, t2 = 2 years later.

• Change in Mental Health (effectiveness)

  t0 = baseline, t1= 1 year later, t2 = 2 years later.

• Change in Loneliness (effectiveness)

  t0 = baseline, t1= 1 year later, t2 = 2 years later.

• Change in Satisfaction with Treatment and Support (effectiveness)

  t0 = baseline, t1= 1 year later, t2 = 2 years later.

• Change in Self-stigma (effectiveness)

  t0 = baseline, t1= 1 year later, t2 = 2 years later.

Other Outcomes (5)

• Change Health Care and Services Use (cost-effectiveness)

  t0 = baseline, t1= 0.5 year later, t2 = 1 year later, t3 = 1.5 years later, t4 = 2 years later.

• Change in Health Status (cost-effectiveness)

  t0 = baseline, t1= 0.5 year later, t2 = 1 year later, t3 = 1.5 years later, t4 = 2 years later.

• Change in Employment Status (cost-effectiveness)

  t0 = baseline, t1= 0.5 year later, t2 = 1 year later, t3 = 1.5 years later, t4 = 2 years later.

Study Arms (2)

RC Group

Recovery College partakers in any way (see description of intervention).

Behavioral: Recovery College participation

Control Group

Participants with similar mental health profile as RC group, but do not participate in an RC. These participants are sampled from the Panel Psychisch Gezien (PPG), monitored by the Trimbos-institute.

Interventions

Recovery College participation BEHAVIORAL

Recovery College participation in any way (visitors, course/retreat participants, volunteers, employees).

RC Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

RC population (RC Group): Partakers in any way from these four Recovery Colleges: Enik Recovery College, Fameus, Korak, Herstelacademie Haarlem en Meer. PPG population (Control Group): National panel for which participants are recruited via mental health care facilities and Regional Institutes for Protected Living (RIPLs).

You may qualify if:

• For RC group: needs to attend one of the four participating RCs regularly, at least more than once.
• Needs to experience severe mental illness/psychological vulnerabilities (both self-reported or officially diagnosed).
• Needs to master the Dutch language to sufficient extent to understand the surveys.
• Is 18 years or older.

You may not qualify if:

• For the RC group: does not attend one of the four participating RCs regularly.
• Does not experience severe mental illness/psychological vulnerabilities.
• Does not master the Dutch language to a sufficient extent.
• Is younger than 18 years old.
• For the control group (PPG): attends an RC regularly, but not one of the four participating RCs. If an existing PPG member attends one of the four participating RCs regularly, they are allocated to the RC group.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tilburg University: lead
• Trimbos-institute (also primary organization conducting the study): collaborator
• Lister: collaborator
• Gemeente Utrecht: collaborator
• Stichting tot steun VCVGZ: collaborator

Study Sites (4)

Korak

Apeldoorn, Netherlands

Location

Herstelacademie Haarlem en Meer

Haarlem, Netherlands

Location

Fameus

Tilburg, Netherlands

Location

Enik Recovery College

Utrecht, Netherlands

Location

Related Publications (1)

• van Wezel MMC, Muusse C, van de Mheen D, Wijnen B, den Hollander W, Kroon H. What do we not know (yet) about recovery colleges? A study protocol on their (cost-)effectiveness, mechanisms of action, fidelity and positioning. BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Nov 8;23(1):816. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-05293-8.

  PMID: 37940915 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Mental Disorders; Empowerment

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: PhD

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 27, 2022
• First Posted: November 17, 2022
• Study Start: March 17, 2022
• Primary Completion: January 31, 2025
• Study Completion: January 31, 2025
• Last Updated: August 13, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP
• Time Frame: Upon request.
• Access Criteria: PI reviews requests.

Locations

NL (4)