Background: Residential mental health rehabilitation is a high-cost intensive service model that has become increasingly available in Australia over recent years. Most consumers who access these services have a diagnosis of schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder. One of the known problems with rehabilitation services is the issue of engagement. Listening to what consumers understand and expect of these services may provide a pathway to improving their engagement with relevant rehabilitation support.

Objectives: This session aims to describe a study that explored consumer understanding and expectations on commencement at three Community Care Units (CCUs) – a model of clinically operated community-based residential rehabilitation support available in Queensland, Australia.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were completed with 24 consumers around the time of their commencement at a CCU. A pragmatic approach to grounded theory guided the analysis. Respondent verification was used to enhance the trustworthiness and relevance of the findings.

Results: Consumer’s understanding of the CCUs generally aligned with the model of service; however, the most frequently reported motivation for engagement related to accommodation needs rather than the availability of rehabilitation support. Consumers consistently expressed the hope that the CCU would offer an improvement on previous experiences of care. The nature of support they hoped to receive aligned with known principles of recovery-oriented mental healthcare.

Conclusions: Consumers have positive expectations of mental health rehabilitation at the time of commencement. However, the availability of rehabilitation support was not the primary driver for engagement. The findings also suggest that mental health services generally continue to struggle to actualize recovery-oriented care.