Recovering from Alcohol Addiction: A Transformation to Promote Health

Abstract

A meta-synthesis is presented to determine the features of the recovery process in persons who are addicted to alcohol. The metasynthesis method is founded on the integration and interpretation of findings from certain qualitative studies that shed light on substantial elements in the creation of new interpretations of the phenomenon of recovery from alcoholism. A search of the Ovid, Medline, Cinalh, PsychInfo, Lilacs and Scielo databases, covering the period from 1988 to 2008, was conducted to locate these sources and eleven (11) articles were found using the key words: alcohol abuse, addiction, dependency, recovery, experience and qualitative research. Only six of these words met the quality criteria to be included in the meta-synthesis. The findings indicate recovery is perceived as a transformation with an upward movement, a notion that implies recognizing the potential of a person’s positive aspects, achieving psychological and spiritual maturity, and acquiring the peace and freedom to act. In conclusion, nursing professionals must recognize this process of transformation immersed in the recovery process, so as to establish fruitful interaction between themselves and the other person that allows care to develop.