The Concept of Recovery – a Contribution to the Development of Community Mental Health Services

Mental health, along with physical and social well-being, constitutes the general health of an individual, and it is considered that there is no health without mental health. According to the dual model of mental health, the mental state of an individual does not depend solely on the presence of a diagnosis of mental illness, but also on the subjective feeling of well-being. This means that a person with a mental disorder or illness can have good mental health and vice versa. New approaches in the protection of mental health and the treatment of people with mental illnesses are based on the principles of empowerment, recovery, social inclusion, human rights, multidisciplinarity and multisectoral cooperation. The aim of this paper is to present the concept of recovery of people with mental health problems, starting from a holistic understanding of mental health. Recovery is understood as a process that involves an individual who has hope and is aimed at overcoming psychological suffering, but also experts who shape and conduct their professional procedures with the aim of creating conditions for increasing the well-being and productivity of the individual. Also, the approach to recovery is incorporated into the development and organization of modern Community mental health care services. Under this aspect, the paper will present the development of psychiatric care and Community mental health services on the example of Centers for mental health in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the knowledge and clear documents that focus on mental health care and support services for everyone in the community, there are significant challenges in implementing that type of mental health care system.