The Work and Recovery Project: Changing Organizational Culture and Practice in New York City Outpatient Services.

Topic: Complex and multiple barriers confront out-patient programs in promoting recovery and addressing mental health recipients' work-related goals. This article describes a focused organizational change project utilizing intensive consultation and technical assistance within five New York City outpatient psychiatric services. Purpose: The project aimed to increase staff exposure to, understanding and use of work-related and recovery-based concepts to promote consumers' recovery and attainment of employment goals. Sources used: Tailored assessment, curriculum delivery, and identification and implementation of change objectives were useful strategies in promoting change. Conclusions: This change model can serve to assist programs in their efforts to integrate new approaches and to better understand changes among leadership, staff and consumers, and changes in organizational culture and practice required to support a work and recovery-oriented service paradigm. The project experience suggests that adopting and embracing new practices takes time. Varied and incremental steps toward programmatic and operational changes can be significant and can reap authentic sustainable change occurring in the process of learning, experiencing, internalizing and adjusting to new methods of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]