skip to main content
Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Back Button

Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP)

Adult Mental Health
  Literature review updated December 2014.
This program was archived December 2024.

Wellness Recovery Action Plan is a group-based intervention for persons with mental illness, delivered weekly for eight to ten weeks. The program teaches participants to focus on key elements of recovery (hope, self-advocacy, support) in daily life and teaches participants to organize a list of activities to use to help them feel better when they are experiencing mental health difficulties.
 
ALL
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Anxiety disorder
Clinical diagnosis of an anxiety disorder (e.g., general anxiety, panic, social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder) or symptoms measured on a validated scale.
 46 1 251 -0.070 0.088 46 -0.070 0.424
Psychiatric symptoms
Mental health symptoms (such as symptoms of psychosis) in individuals with serious mental illness, measured on a validated scale.
 46 3 381 -0.141 0.121 46 -0.141 0.245
Hope
A positive motivational state, as measure on a validated scale such as the Kadzin Hopelessness Scale for Children.
 46 1 309 0.139 0.176 46 0.139 0.429
Patient self-advocacy
Self-advocacy measured on a validated scale, such as Brasher’s Patient Self-Advocacy Scale (PSAS).
46 1 251 0.090 0.143 46 0.099 0.489
Mental health recovery
Full or partial recovery from psychosis symptoms specific to populations with a diagnosis of psychosis.
46 3 381 0.072 0.076 46 -0.070 0.340

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Cook, J.A., Copeland, M.E., Floyd, C.B., Jonikas, J.A., Hamilton, M.M., Razzano, L., Carter, T.M., ... Boyd, S. (2012). A randomized controlled trial of effects of Wellness Recovery Action Planning on depression, anxiety, and recovery. Psychiatric Services, 63(6), 541-7.

Cook, J.A., Jonikas, J.A., Hamilton, M.M., Razzano, L.A., Grey, D.D., MacFarlane, R.T., Carter, T.M., ... Boyd, S. (2012). Results of a randomized controlled trial of mental illness self-management using wellness recovery action planning. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 38(4), 881-891.

Cook, J.A., Jonikas, J.A., Hamilton, M.M., Goldrick, V., Steigman, P.J., Grey, D.D., Burke, L., ... Copeland, M.E. (2013). Impact of Wellness Recovery Action Planning on Service Utilization and Need in a Randomized Controlled Trial. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 36(4), 250-257.

Fukui, S., Starnino, V.R., Susana, M., Davidson, L.J., Cook, K., Rapp, C.A., & Gowdy, E.A. (2011). Effect of Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) participation on psychiatric symptoms, sense of hope, and recovery. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 34 (3), 214-22.

Jonikas, J.A., Grey, D.D., Copeland, M.E., Razzano, L.A., Hamilton, M.M., Floyd, C.B., Hudson, W.B., ... Cook, J.A. (2013). Improving propensity for patient self-advocacy through wellness recovery action planning: results of a randomized controlled trial. Community Mental Health Journal, 49(3), 260-9.