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This paper discusses how creative practice in the arts and humanities might promote the kinds of connectedness and reciprocity that support "mutual recovery" in terms of mental health and well-being. The idea of "mutual recovery" extends out of the increasingly influential notion of "recovery" in mental healthcare, and refers to the possibility of achieving a meaningful and more resilient life irrespective of mental health "symptoms" or disabilities. Typically, however, recovery-based initiatives have so far tended to focus exclusively on people identified as having mental health needs (service users) and overlook how hard-pressed informal carers and health, social care and education personnel may also need to "recover" or be "recovered" in terms of their own mental health and well-being too. The idea of mutuality as a key factor in recovery originated in the self-help movements of the early twentieth century ([65] White, 1998) but our version of the phrase "mutual recovery" seeks to extend the notion to the wider social networks of informal carers, volunteers and practitioners within which those identified as having a mental disorder are embedded. Our central hypothesis is that creative practice could be a powerful tool for bringing together a range of social actors and communities of practice in the field of mental health, encompassing a diversity of people with mental health needs, informal carers and health, social care and education personnel, to establish and connect communities in a mutual or reciprocal fashion to enhance mental health and well-being. Whilst there is no standard definition of the term informal carer (and some may resent the term "informal" when it requires a great deal of commitment and energy) we use this phrase to denote those who provide significant elements of care to a person with long-term health needs and may include family members, partners neighbours and friends. We have recently initiated a project, made possible by the generous support of the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council, to explore in detail how this could work in practice. Our approach is congruent with a "new wave of mutuality" marked by "renewed interest in co-operation" ([43] Murray, 2012). Such an approach would add a new dimension to the growing field of health humanities ([150] Crawford et al. , 2010).
Background
The biggest change in mental...