Establishing peer led services

Part one

 

"One of the things that's been amazingly successful about this initiative is that the people who actually have trained, graduated from their training, just about universally see that training itself as a major step forward for them in their own recovery - it does something deeply personal in changing their view of their experience, in seeing their ability to give back - the kind of possibility of valued social roles - all of that....... Now with over one hundred and twenty having trained and applied for various jobs, over fifty of those people are employed - so it's also had this hugely powerful effect on employment for our service users.. (that is) .. personally fulfilling for the people involved."

 

Dr Sue Hallwright shares her experiences of peer led servies in New Zealand in an interview with Dr Ian McPherson, Director, NMHDU

Split into 2 parts the films last approximately 30 minutes each as Sue reflects on the challenges and successes of implementing this innovative and ground breaking model.

There is a full transcript of each film available to download below

Download part 1           Download part 2

Below are resources and links to innovative peer led work from across the globe. Any enquiries regarding these materials, contact Tony Jameson-Allen

 

Part two

Acknowledgements

The services described on this podcast have been put in place in South Auckland, New Zealand, supported by the Counties Manukau District Health Board. These services were inspired by a visit to Recovery Innovations of Phoenix, Arizona (then Meta Services) by several Counties Manukau mental health representatives, and translated into action as a result of the initial passion and commitment of two individuals:  Tanya Maloney and Phillip Grady. The services could never have been put in place without the incredible courage and generosity of all the people willing to receive training to become peer support specialists, the ongoing work of those who subsequently entered the peer workforce and the leadership of our first peer support specialist professional leader, Cassandra Laskey.

Many other people have been responsible for implementing and supporting these services within Counties Manukau, including:

·      the clinical and managerial leadership within the Counties Manukau District Health Board’s mental health services

·      the clinical staff working within the District Health Board’s community teams, especially the Cottage and the crisis services

·      the leadership within Pathways Trust who run Tupu Ake (a peer-delivered alternative to inpatient care)

·      Recovery Innovations, Phoenix Arizona

·      the Mental Health and Addictions Service Development Team within Counties Manukau District Health Board

Peer support

Tupu Ake is the first mental health and wellness peer support service of its kind in New Zealand.

Staff at Tupu Ake come from a variety of backgrounds including registered nurses, peer support specialists and counsellors.

Tupu Ake, a partnership with Counties-Manukau District Health Board, opened in mid 2008. Tupu Ake's peer support specialists offer a unique understanding and relationship with people using the service, as they too have experienced mental illness. Read more about Tupu Ake...

Download the peer led service information leaflet

www.recoveryinnovations.org

"It is a joy to share the experience of our organisational transformation that began in 1999. It began with a recreation of our mission, from "crisis stabilization" to "creating recovery opportunities and environments that empower people to recover." Then transformation continued as we (see next panel)

  • Shifted from clinical interventions to education (creating the Recovery Education Center)
  • Began to teach self-help skills using Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP), Wellness and Empowerment in Life and Living (WELL), and a variety of self-directed planning tools
  • Developed peer support as a core service by creating a well trained peer workforce that provided a range of peer-run services
  • Created a recovery culture in all our services by integrating Peer Support Specialists in complimentary roles on all our teams

Tags for this page
What are tags? Tag cloud