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

NCT05620212 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 142

Last updated 2025-08-13

No results posted yet for this study

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

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Recovery College participation

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

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Trimbos-institute (also primary organization conducting the study)

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Lister

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Gemeente Utrecht

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Stichting tot steun VCVGZ

    collaborator OTHER

  • Tilburg University

    lead OTHER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2022-03-17
Primary Completion
2025-01-31
Completion
2025-01-31

Countries

  • Netherlands

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT05620212 on ClinicalTrials.gov