Applying the CHIME recovery framework in two culturally diverse Australian communities: qualitative results
Abstract
BACKGROUND: CHIME (connectedness, hope and optimism about the future, identity, meaning in life and empowerment) is a framework for conceptualising personal recovery from mental illness. To date, there has been limited research on its cross-cultural applicability. AIMS: To apply CHIME to two culturally diverse groups' conceptualisation of recovery from depression. METHOD: Qualitative interviews with 30 Anglo-Australians and 28 Indian-Australians living with depression in Melbourne, Australia. Data were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Both groups valued connectedness but experienced stigma and struggled to broker family support. Identity, hope and optimism for the future were associated with positive thinking, being 'cured' and discontinuing treatment. Spirituality gave Indian participants meaning in life; Anglos derived meaning from the illness experience itself. Feeling empowered, for both groups, was related to improved socio-economic status and being 'settled' (e.g. having gainful employment, a home and family). CONCLUSIONS: CHIME was applicable in both groups, but culture mediated how cross-cutting issues (e.g. stigma) and sub-components of CHIME were operationalised. Recovery was also influenced by participant's socio-economic context. Research, policy and practice implications are discussed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Brijnath (73) found that Indian participants found meaning in life through religion, while "For Anglo participants, meaning in life was derived from the illness experience itself. Participants talked about the importance of a diagnostic label in validating how they felt, discovering their inner strength and learning to live with depression."
“Brijnath (73) found that Indian participants found meaning in life through religion, while “For Anglo participants, meaning in life was derived from the illness experience itself. Participants talked about the importance of a diagnostic label in validating how they felt, discovering their inner strength and learning to live with depression.””
From Recovery from Severe Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review of Service User and Informal Caregiver Perspectives (2021) · cites this paper as [73]
Brijnath (73) challenged traditional personal recovery literature writing: "Participants' emphasis on being 'cured', achieving an endpoint in their depression and discontinuing medicines runs counter to the recovery discourse that emphasises that one can be ill and still live a meaningful, contributory life."
“Brijnath (73) challenged traditional personal recovery literature writing: “Participants' emphasis on being ‘cured’, achieving an endpoint in their depression and discontinuing medicines runs counter to the recovery discourse that emphasises that one can be ill and still live a meaningful, contributory life.””
From Recovery from Severe Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review of Service User and Informal Caregiver Perspectives (2021) · cites this paper as [73]
This conceptualization of recovery as an individual responsibility was strongly linked to empowerment, which in turn was linked to having economic means for independence.
“This conceptualization of recovery as an individual responsibility was strongly linked to empowerment, which in turn was linked to having economic means for independence (43, 73, 74).”
From Recovery from Severe Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review of Service User and Informal Caregiver Perspectives (2021) · cites this paper as [73]
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 25 · Cited by 68
- Authors
- Brijnath, B.
- Affiliations
- Monash University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Brijnath, Bianca
- ORCID
- Brijnath, Bianca
- Venue
- International Journal of Social Psychiatry
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-03-12
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 660-667
- ISSN
- 0020-7640 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-2854
- OpenAlex
- W2025443806
- Cited by
- 68
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 6.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Social Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mental Health and Patient Involvement
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Cultural Competency in Health Care
- Keywords
- CHIME framework, personal recovery, depression, cross-cultural applicability, Anglo-Australians, stigma, connectedness, hope and optimism, identity, meaning in life, spirituality, empowerment, family support, socioeconomic status, cultural diversity
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Australia, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Power, Psychological, Residence Characteristics, Social Class, Cultural Diversity, Spirituality, White People, Asian People, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
