Social work’s approach to recovery in mental health and addiction policies: a scoping review

ABSTRACT A recovery paradigm has been increasingly used recently to inform mental health and addiction policies with principles that promote autonomy, social capital, and inclusion. However, some policies such as coercive treatments conflict with recovery principles and social workers report challenges implementing recovery principles in practice. This scoping review explored the literature on recovery policies in mental health and addictions from a social work perspective (N = 29). Our results showed a need to strengthen training for social workers on recovery, increase the focus on policies for addiction recovery, reduce coercive treatment policies, support families, and reduce stigma and discrimination through equitable policies.