Lean on me: the potential for peer support in a non-government Australian mental health service

Davies, Kate; Gray, Mel; Butcher, Luke

doi:10.1080/02185385.2014.885213

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Another finding from this study was the need to ensure on-going support for program staff [40], with this program experiencing a high staff turnover. Staff shortages and high rates of turnover could be due to a number of reasons including lack of adequate peer support [41] and the recruitment of staff who either do not possess adequate skills [42][43][44] or are perceived by the community as not possessing adequate skills for their roles [45]. Programs that demonstrate success in improving mental health outcomes, by contrast, have highly qualified staff, and provide opportunities for staff to gain additional training in topics specific to the program [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Community Resilience on the Implementation of a Mental Health Promotion Program in Rural Australia

Deuge

Hoang

Kent

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Mental health promotion programs are important in rural communities but the factors which influence program effectiveness remain unclear. The aim of this mixed-methods study was to assess how community resilience affected the implementation of a mental health promotion program in rural Tasmania, Australia. Four study communities were selected based on population size, rurality, access to local support services, history of suicide within the community, and maturity of the mental health promotion program. Data from self-report questionnaires (n = 245), including items of Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART) assessment, and qualitative (focus group and interview) data from key local stakeholders (n = 24), were pooled to explore the factors perceived to be influencing program implementation. Survey results indicate the primary community resilience strengths across the four sites were related to the ‘Connection and Caring’ domain. The primary community resilience challenges related to resources. Qualitative findings suggested lack of communication and leadership are key barriers to effective program delivery and identified a need to provide ongoing support for program staff. Assessment of perceived community resilience may be helpful in informing the implementation of mental health promotion programs in rural areas and, in turn, improve the likelihood of their success and sustainability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Community Resilience on the Implementation of a Mental Health Promotion Program in Rural Australia

Deuge

Hoang

Kent

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…Despite plenty of anecdotal evidence, the robust evaluation of peer-interventions is limited, and the evaluation of youth peer support is even more lacking. Studies in the Netherlands (Van Gestel-Timmermans et al, 2012), the United States (Fukui et al, 2010) and Australia (Davies et al, 2014), among others (Ahmed et al, 2012;Davidson et al, 2012;Sledge et al, 2011;Lawn et al, 2008;Min et al, 2007;Forchuk et al, 2005) have begun to demonstrate the effectiveness of existing peer led interventions; however these studies have focused on the outcomes for clients and less on the process of implementing peer programs and the broader implication of servicewide change. A recent scoping review (Gopalan et al, 2017) has uncovered the wide range of roles which Youth Peer Support Workers (YPSW) are beginning to undertake within mental health care services, while also highlighting that again, the majority of evaluative studies focus on youth outcomes.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing youth peer support in an early psychosis program

Hopkins

Pedwell

Wilson

et al. 2020

JMHTEP

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Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify and understand the barriers and enablers to the implementation of youth peer support in a clinical mental health service. The development of a lived experience workforce in mental health is a key component of policy at both the state and the federal level in Australia. Implementing a peer workforce within existing clinical services, however, can be a challenging task. Furthermore, implementing peer support in a youth mental health setting involves a further degree of complexity, involving a degree of care for young people being invited to provide peer support when they may be still early in their own recovery journey. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a formative evaluation of the beginning stages of implementation of a youth peer workforce within an existing clinical mental health service in Melbourne. Findings The project found that it was feasible and beneficial to implement youth peer support; however, significant challenges remain, including lack of appropriate training for young people, uncertainty amongst clinical staff about the boundaries of the peer role and the potential for “tokenism” in the face of slow cultural change across the whole service. Originality/value Very little evaluation has yet been undertaken into the effectiveness of implementing peer support in youth mental health services. This paper offers an opportunity to investigate where services may need to identify strengths and address difficulties when undertaking future implementation efforts.

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“…Existing service‐user participation strategies have been criticised as tokenistic. Service‐user representatives report unrealistic expectations of peer support workers, where the emphasis is on their ability to adapt to workplace standards rather than the organisation's willingness to facilitate compensatory adaptive workplace practices (Davies, Gray, & Butcher, ).…”

Section: A Policy‐driven Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Finding the right connections: Peer support within a community‐based mental health service

2016

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Gray M., Davies K., Butcher L. Finding the right connections: Peer support within a community‐based mental health service This article reports on a qualitative study that examined the organisational enablers and barriers to implementing peer support work in an Australian, rural, community‐based mental health service. Interviews with 19 peer and non‐peer staff were conducted to identify attitudes towards peer support and whether there were organisational values, practices and strategies that might support the implementation of peer support. The findings revealed that peer support workers were valued for their ability to build trusting connections with clients and to accept client choice in a non‐judgemental way. However, peer support workers tended to ‘fill service gaps’ within intensive, administrative case‐management environments. These findings highlight the importance of an organisational‐wide approach to integrating peer support, where the responsibilities for adopting new ways of working fall to all staff, not just the peer support workers themselves. Key Practitioner Message: • Practitioners placed high value on the peer support workers on their teams due to their unique personalised engagement with clients; • The roles of peer support workers were poorly understood by team members; • Organisational integration of peer support principles could improve the way all staff engage with clients to reflect a recovery orientation.

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Lean on me: the potential for peer support in a non-government Australian mental health service

Cited by 19 publications

References 21 publications

Impacts of Community Resilience on the Implementation of a Mental Health Promotion Program in Rural Australia

Impacts of Community Resilience on the Implementation of a Mental Health Promotion Program in Rural Australia

Implementing youth peer support in an early psychosis program

Finding the right connections: Peer support within a community‐based mental health service

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