Case study – Visual, interactive journey mapping tool for addiction recovery stories: August 2026
The mutual benefit of showcasing a person’s story of recovery from alcohol and drugs through a visual and engaging activity. Giving a platform for organisations to increase understanding of their recovery model and reduce stigma for those experiencing addiction.
This engagement activity took place in partnership within Harbour Ayrshire, a peer led recovery community who support individuals recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. Communities like this carry out valuable work but are often underrepresented in decision making processes both nationally and locally. The engagement was part of a larger project led by the Transformational Change Alcohol and Drug Team at Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), which sought to formalise the role of recovery communities within Scotland’s health and social care system whilst reducing stigma by humanising experiences of recovery.
Situation
The engagement activity was designed to gain a better understanding of how recovery approaches can influence long term sustained recovery. Peer led recovery communities have a huge and positive impact on those working towards recovery as they provide safe and non-judgemental support. The engagement team created a visual which represented one person’s interactions with a recovery community and the impact it had on various elements of their life.
Approach
Harbour Ayrshire collaborated with staff from the Transformational Change Alcohol and Drug Team within Healthcare Improvement Scotland to carry out the project. To design the engagement, members from the team consulted with Harbour Ayrshire staff and volunteers to understand the best approach to take. Based on feedback and preference by individuals, a road visual was created to symbolise an individual’s journey through recovery. This would be populated with various symbols and annotations with details of the events or feelings being represented.
The symbols used helped participants remember and think of ways that Harbour Ayrshire had influenced their recovery. Symbols represented skills, finances, housing, people, supports and others. The product of the in-person session was digitised to create a visual journey through recovery, which the participants also consulted on.
For most people impacted by addiction, trauma is a big part of their story. When working with people who have experienced trauma it can be easier for them to open up during ’shoulder to shoulder’ communication. This can be observed while doing activities like walking and driving. The journey map engagement allowed for a similar process to take place. The activity allowed individuals to tell their story without the intensity of a face-to-face interview style conversation or the pressure to remember everything in order.
Another impact of trauma can be difficulties creating sequential memories, meaning it’s not always easy to know the order things happened. Having a linear map with events plotted out made it easier to fill gaps especially with prompts such as work, relationships and emotions. As the participants would speak, a facilitator populated the road visual while another would take notes. This meant that the participant could visualise their journey and circle back to fill in the gaps as they remembered things.
To ensure we were trauma informed during this activity, Harbour Ayrshire selected participants who were at a point in their recovery where sharing their story was safe and appropriate. Participants were given informed choice before starting the activity and involved in the design of the activity itself. Harbour staff were on hand to check in with the participants during and after the activity.
The key learning from the sessions was that the support provided by Harbour was bespoke, person-centred and holistic. Individuals were supported into recovery at the right time for them and the support given enhanced and supplemented the approach provided by statutory services.
The engagement activity was designed by the Public Involvement Advisor and the Improvement Advisor from the Transformational Change Alcohol and Drug Team. Collaborators throughout the design were the individuals who had volunteered to take part in the journey mapping activity as well as the workers at Harbour Ayrshire.
Five people in total were involved, all with lived and living experience of alcohol or drug recovery including workers, males, females and a family member. Each time an individual engaged in the activity they were given options for how to proceed, where to start their story and how much time they would like to take. During the digitising process, participants collaborated at each stage to ensure they were happy with the product and changes made based on their feedback.
People impacted by addiction are an underrepresented group and within that there is intersectionality with other characteristics. Family members and carers are often forgotten about in conversations about recovery and it was crucial for their voices to be included. Engaging men, women and family members meant we were able to get a broader picture of experiences with Harbour’s recovery model.
Timings for engagement was flexible and met people in the Harbour Ayrshire service when it suited them which was a place they were already familiar with. Online calls during a weekday evening were also included to accommodate specific participant.
Results
Harbour Ayrshire used the outcome of the engagement to create visual journey maps, which they have since published on their website. At the start of the engagement, one of the things Harbour Ayrshire felt they could do better was record and report on their impact. Harbour Ayrshire were able to use the journey road mapping exercise as a way of showcasing their impact on people’s recovery. Engagement being mutually beneficial in this way diminishes feedback fatigue.
A session plan and facilitator’s pack were developed for Harbour Ayrshire to allow them to re-create the exercise. After being reviewed by the Harbour group facilitators, the session plans have been published on the HIS website. Recovery communities and other third sector and statutory organisations can extract and visualise their impact on a person’s journey using this technique.
Key Learning
Meaningful partnership working was a key learning point for this project. The project remained fluid around expectations for engagement and meant that any feedback or guidance gathered from lived experienced collaborators was in scope.
Creating the road visual shoulder to shoulder with people was a very powerful and positive experience. Each person who completed the exercise found they were amazed when looking at how much they had achieved. The ‘Visual, Interactive Journey Mapping Tool for Addiction Recovery Stories’ facilitated a positive experience for the participants and created a useful resource for the service we engaged with.
The key learning from the sessions was that the support provided by Harbour Ayrshire was bespoke, person-centred and holistic. Individuals were supported into recovery at the right time for them and the support given enhanced and supplemented the approach provided by statutory services.
Commissioning Harbour Ayrshire’s help meant the organisation was being adequately compensated for the support and expertise they provided.
Next Steps
The next steps would be to utilise this journey mapping tool to understand the impact of peer led recovery across different areas and populations in Scotland.
For More Information:
- Examples of roadmaps used by Harbour Ayrshire.
- Transformational Change Alcohol and Drugs ‘Alive to Thrive’ Webinar: March 2026- Healthcare Improvement Scotland Webinar:
- Facilitator toolkit for the Journey Map.