Incorporating consumer perspectives into mental health services design is important in working to deliver recovery-oriented care. One of the challenges faced in mental health rehabilitation services is limited consumer engagement with the available support. Listening to consumers’ expectations of mental health services, and what they hope to achieve, provides an opportunity to examine the alignment between existing services and the priorities and preferences of the people who use them. We explored consumer understandings and expectations of three recovery-oriented community-based residential mental-health rehabilitation units using semi-structured interviews; two of these units were trialling a staffing model integrating peer support with clinical care.

Twenty-four consumers completed semi-structured interviews with an independent interviewer during the first 6 weeks of their stay at the rehabilitation unit. Most participants had a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder (87%). A pragmatic approach to grounded theory guided the analysis, facilitating identification of content and themes, and the development of an overarching conceptual map.

The rehabilitation units were considered to provide a transformational space and a transitional place. The most common reason given for engagement was housing insecurity or homelessness rather than the opportunity for rehabilitation engagement. Differences in expectations did not emerge between consumers entering the clinical and integrated staffing model sites.

Consumers understand the function of the rehabilitation service they are entering. However, receiving rehabilitation support may not be the key driver of their attendance. This finding has implications for promoting consumer engagement with rehabilitation services. The absence of differences between the integrated and clinical staffing models may reflect the novelty of the rehabilitation context. The study highlights the need for staff to find better ways to increase consumer awareness of the potential relevance of evidence-based rehabilitation support to facilitating their recovery.