Peer Support Fife was created in January 2008 to promote the model of peer support in the mental health setting throughout Fife. Other areas of work include promoting and supporting user, survivor and carer involvement in mental health matters, and peer advocacy.
It is encouraging to note the referencing of the strengths model pioneered at the University of Kansas and Shery Mead's website MentalHealthPeers.com
The organisers are now inviting workshop presenters to submit an abstract of 250 words max, related to the conference focus, outlining the aims of and intentions for the workshop. The deadline for abstract submission is 20 September 2010.
Over 40 delegates took part in our user/carer involvement workshop with Mary O'Hagan, NZ, faciliating, on 14 May 2010 in the Cupar Old Parish Centre - 'having a voice and making a difference!'. Friends joined us from the Dundee, Perth and Falkirk areas, sharing experiences of involvement from a service user and carer perspective. Mary spoke of her own experiences using services and of being a leader with others in the planning and provision of services, challenging tokenism and setting agendas rather than fitting in with decisions already made. A report of the workshop will follow. It is hoped to have follow-up meetings, a network of user involvement initiatives and an opportunity to encourage and share experience(s).
Clubhouses are effectively extended families, which offer complete acceptance and create a sense of belonging and aims to help build confidence while providing purpose and encouraging autonomy. Belonging to ICCD, the International Center for Clubhouse Development, promotes solidarity and there are International Standards that give structure and ensure quality and consistency of service.
Professionally Chrys has a management degree and postgraduate qualifications in community education and college lecturing. Working experience includes:
Action research into adult learning needs
Lecturing in Care subjects
Mental health recovery, personally & support of relatives
Advocacy work with individuals, self-advocacy groupwork
Marketing - writing articles, radio broadcasts, photography, speaking
Mentoring - student mentor project, support network for colleges & universities, joint-working with organisations
Employability - work placements, jobs fairs, workshops, volunteering, support into work
Training volunteers, creating and delivering materials
Recruitment, support and supervision of volunteers, and the systems to monitor and evaluate
Project development - fundraising, budgeting, promotion & publicity, systems, IT
Youthwork & childrens' work - playgroups, playschemes, after-school clubs, youth clubs/groups
Rosie Armstrong, Treasurer, has supported the work of PS fife since the beginning of the journey, and has personal experience in the area of mental health issues. Rosie studied at Adam Smith College where she achieved qualifications in Administration and Working with Communities, a course that involved work-based practice, research and community profiling.
After gaining experience in a rural mental health support project and with NHS Fife, Rosie is now employed in Tenancy Support for people with disabilities, working with individuals and groups. Her aim is to help people make informed choices and be encouraged and empowered.
"A system of giving and receiving help founded on key principles of respect, shared responsibility and mutual agreement on what is useful"
Mead, Hilton & Curtis, 2001
On 16 August 2010 another Peer Support Workshop was held in the Levenmouth area of Fife, in Buckhaven Community Centre. Again there were participants from outwith Fife as well as local folk interested in hearing about the benefits of PS, both formally and informally.
Scottish Recovery Network held a conference in Glasgow, December 2005, to promote the formalised Peer Support model, with speakers from Recovery Innovations and the Georgia Certified Peer Specialist Project. Following this, in November 2006, a group of Scottish service users were trained in the PS Worker model by a Recovery Innovations trainer and again in January 2008. Pilot PS Worker projects were set up in 5 health board areas of Scotland (not Fife) in 2008.
An independent evaluation of the peer support worker pilot schemes, November 2009, has recommended further roll out of the role at the same time as making recommendations for future implementation:
Summary of Research Findings
Full PS Worker Evaluation Report
The 2 new unit specifications for the Mental Health Peer Support PDA (professsional development award) - Recovery Context and Developing Practice - are now available on the SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) website. These are Higher National (HN) units and can be undertaken individually. The learning/teaching materials are being written and the award is still to be launched.
Shery Mead is a consultant working in the area of peer support, including 'social action and social change', peer run crisis alternatives and training professionals in recovery based practices. Articles by Shery Mead include "Defining Peer Support" and "Peer Support: What makes it unique?" This explores the peer support role and what makes it different to other relationships in the mental health setting. Topics like mutuality and shared experience(s), personal responsibility and being in control.
Recovery Innovations of Arizona provide individual and hospital-based peer support: “Peer Support Specialists and Recovery Coaches are powerful recovery role models that engage each individual served in a personal recovery program. Based on the person’s goals the peer staff offer a wide range of support activities, skill building, and case management”.
www.recoveryinnovations.org
The Georgia Certified Peer Specialist Project has trained over 437 specialists to fill 'key roles in the public mental health system'. As a consumer (user) movement the Georgia CPS project believes that the understanding of 'what creates recovery' is key to their delivery of services and integration of peer workers. Their mission statement includes the desire "to promote self-determination, personal responsibility and empowerment inherent in self-directed recovery".
www.gacps.com
"the involvement of service users in the management, design and delivery of services" Phillips 2004
"A distinction must be drawn between service user involvement that is management centred, and that which is user centred. In the former the agenda is set by service purchasers and practitioners and control held within the organisation. The latter leans towards the objective being set and driven forward by users of the services. The two types of service user involvement highlight the main difficulty in defining service user involvement as a concept as they are not mutually exclusive." (Robson et al, 2003)
The User/Survivor Movement
"Politicising oneself by joining with other survivors in political actions is an excellent antidote to the powerlessness that psychiatry induces in its subjects. Becoming active in the struggle against psychiatry (and other forms of injustice)... is a good alternative to the helplessness psychiatry encourages."
(Jeffrey Masson 1989)
Quote from Mind
"Peer advocates are people who have personal experience of mental health difficulties and who have achieved a sufficient level of recovery to complete an accredited training course in peer advocacy. Once they are qualified they can complete a period working with an existing peer advocate before engaging with clients on their own. This puts them in a unique position in understanding the problems faced by people with mental health difficulties."
Irish Advocacy Network
"Peer Advocacy is about individuals who share significant life experiences. The peer advocate and their advocacy partner may share age, gender, ethnicity, diagnosis or issues. Peer advocates use their own experiences to understand and empathise with their advocacy partner."
Definition from the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance
Advocacy is a process of helping people to have their say and to increase their confidence. It is about standing alongside people who might otherwise be ignored. It can be about speaking on behalf of people who are unable to do so for themselves. It's empowering, enabling and a safeguard to people who are vulnerable and could be discriminated against.
Peer Advocacy lessens the imbalance of power between the advocate and their advocacy partner, increasing self-awareness, confidence and assertiveness so that the person can speak for themselves. It enables people to gain access to information, explore and understand the options, and to then express their views and wishes.
"Peer advocacy is support from someone with experience of using mental health services. Peer advocates can draw on their own experiences to understand and empathise with the person they are working with. Working with a peer advocate makes it easier for advocate and user to have an equal relationship. Some peer advocates and advocacy schemes work on an entirely voluntary basis, but the majority are now funded user and survivor-run schemes with paid workers."
Mind
"Carer involvement and participation means carers being fully involved in service design, delivery and review – not simply relying on consultation. It places carers in a much more active role and should be based on power sharing.
Why involve carers?
Involving carers in planning and improving services makes good sense: they understand their needs and role. Carers undertake tasks and duties that most people don’t have the first idea about.
Talking to carers can also provide feedback about services that you could not get in any other way. Apart from their obvious knowledge about their own needs, carers are very often best placed, next to the cared for themselves, to talk about the needs of services users.
They should be key partners in planning and commissioning not only carers’ services but also services for the cared for."
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers www.carers.org
"By being actively involved you can ...
User and Carer Involvement, Dumfries & Galloway www.userandcarer.co.uk
"As a process, recovery is a complex and nonlinear evolution that Ridgeway (2001) describes as being comprised of a series of journeys including:
WRAP is a self-management and recovery system developed by a group of people who had mental health difficulties and who were struggling to incorporate wellness tools and strategies into their lives. WRAP is designed to:
WRAP is a structured system to monitor uncomfortable and distressing symptoms that can help you reduce, modify or eliminate those symptoms by using planned responses. This includes plans for how you want others to respond when symptoms have made it impossible for you to continue to make decisions, take care of yourself or keep yourself safe.
People who are using WRAP say:
“It helps me feel prepared.”
“I feel better more often and I’m able to improve the overall quality of my life.”
The person who experiences symptoms is the one who develops their personal WRAP. The person may choose to have supporters and health care professionals help them create their WRAP.
The WRAP system was developed by people who have been dealing with a variety of psychiatric symptoms for many years and who are working hard to feel better and get on with their lives. Mary Ellen Copeland has shared it with people with other illnesses and they too believe that it can be easily adapted for use with other conditions.
"The Tidal Model acknowledges that the person's experience of health and illness is a fluctuating one and that the causes of psychiatric crisis can be diverse as well as cumulative.
The Tidal Model assumes, however, that the person's experience is a constant across this ever-changing scenario.
The Tidal Model focuses on the process by which the person was metaphorically 'washed ashore' as a result of the psychiatric crisis. Once a crisis has been identified, the person's lived experience becomes the centre-piece for an in-depth, collaborative assessment of what 'needs to be done' to help to 're-float' the shipwrecked person."
Prof Phil Barker & Poppy Buchanan-Barker: www.clan-unity.co.uk / www.tidal-model.com
We have just been awarded funds from both Awards for All and Voluntary Action Fund which will enable us to recruit and train volunteers and to develop more training materials.
This was an opportunity to work with others, in groups and pairs, looking at topics like strategies for supporting individuals to build connections, exploring competing definitions of inclusion, person-centred approaches and community mapping exercises.
Watch this space for developments .....
Annette Callow, a member of Caledonia Clubhouse, Falkirk, kindly agreed to be interviewed about her experience of Clubhouse, the ethos and how it has impacted upon her life and journey of recovery: Annette's Interview
Moodcafe - a website developed by NHS Fife Clinical Psychology and Public Health departments.
Health in Mind - Edinburgh & Lothian based organisation with 10 different projects.
The Playfield Institute - Hands On Scotland website, online toolkit.
Playfield's User/Carer Consultation - a focus group held in the workshop around the topic of 'mentally flourishing children & young people'.
Angus Mental Health Association - providing mental health support services and activities since 1991.
LINK Adolescent Befriending Project - working with 12-18yr olds in East Fife and Levenmouth.
Fife Council Social Work Service - the work of the Mental Health Officer team.
Service User Story - hearing from a person who has experienced mental ill health and recovery, supported by an MHO.
My Clubhouse Journey - the Clubhouse is a community centre, member-led with an approach that is holistic, inclusive, sustaining, responsive and cost-effective.
Understanding Power - a presentation by Jacinta Jaylo Barker, consultant with ERACE.
Tidal Model - 'By using their own language, metaphors and personal stories people begin to express something of the meaning of their lives', this model is delivered in central Fife by NHS staff in ward and community.
User Carer Involvement - a Dumfries & Galloway charity helping people to have a voice and to see changes in their service provision.
Contact Point Fife - day resource centres with a programme of activities, voluntary participation within a user-led philosophy.
WRAP was developed in the USA by Mary Ellen Copeland, in response to her own challenges of living with mental ill health, and in consultation with others. It helps us look at what we are like when well, what we do on a regular basis to keep well, and action plans for coping with triggers, things that happen and are outwith our control. The crisis plan is a document that can be included in the Advance Statement and shared with supporters who may be friends, colleagues or family.
The day went well with a variety of interesting workshop presentations, networking opportunities and promising development ideas. Thanks go to our colleagues from organisations locally and beyond who supported us by sharing something of their work in the mental health setting, 14 different presentations in parallel workshops. There was even a minibus of Glasgow friends from the Mental Health Network and GAMH who stayed the night before in a Cupar hotel near the college, and a team from Clubhouse - Scotia and Flourish House in Glasgow, and Caledonia in Falkirk.
Wendy McAuslan from the national service user organisation Voices Of eXperience was the final speaker, helping to gather feedback on potential development areas around networking and user/carer involvement. VOX have offered some capacity building support to Fife folk as they explore ways of encouraging people who use mental health services to speak out and make a difference.
We've updated the Links page to include websites that we think are innovative and a bit different.
In the last few days Chrys Muirhead has had contact with people from the London and Kent areas, working in mental health, who are interested in formalised peer support. It seems there are few initiatives in those areas based on the PS model, although there is a 'buddy' scheme in Kent where a service user works alongside a mental health professional to share the user perspective and bring insight. There has been more emphasis on psychological therapies in England with the funding of many more CBT posts, in an attempt to reduce the need for medication and stimulate recovery.
After 24hrs flying Chrys Muirhead has returned from her trip of a lifetime to Australia and New Zealand for the IIMHL conference and exchange. The main highlights of this experience has been meeting people who also have a vision for recovery and peer support in particular, and seeing the sights in Auckland and Brisbane. Although the exchange part of the visit, with Mind and Body, had some hitches, the conference was an opportunity to discuss social inclusion with leaders from other countries. And to attend a Peer Support workshop led by Gene Johnson of Recovery Innovations.
Chrys met up with the Development Manager from the Consumer Activity Network, they have a national peer support and information referral line, and a 'hospital to home' team providing practical assistance and peer support for consumers on discharge from the inpatient units. It was encouraging to hear from Desley who has been working with consumers since 1994.
The second Peer Support workshop was held in Glasgow for Turning Point Scotland service users, people who are recovering from mental health issues and substance misuse. Chrys Muirhead facilitated this day's training, encouraging participation and sharing of experiences. Eric Nicol, Recovery Impact Worker with TPS was also on hand to take part in the workshop and to discuss future developments for service user involvement in the organisation.
Sessions at this course included communication skills, working in groups and a focus on what would be helpful for people who use services to be more meaningfully involved in decision-making. All agreed that they wanted to 'make a difference' and 'put something back'. Participants suggested that this could be by helping to raise awareness of self-harm in schools or working with people who have addictions. A positive action arising out of their own struggles and journeys of recovery.
Chrys Muirhead has been delivering Peer Support day workshops to service users and staff at Turning Point Scotland in Glasgow, beginning with introductory day sessions and yesterday, 28 November, the first of a 2 day follow-up PS training for service users.
The programme at this workshop was entitled 'All About You' and included group work on confidence building, where participants worked on their strengths, practised telling their 'story' and discussed how to keep well. Chrys used the 'Pathways to Recovery' workbook from the University of Kansas for activities and participants found the quotes in the book very encouraging. The second day focusses on 'Working with Others' and explores group working and relationships, while also revisiting boundaries and confidentiality.
On Monday 11 August 2008 the first 'Introduction to WRAP - Wellness Recovery Action Planning' workshop was held in the Rothes Halls, Glenrothes, Fife. It was an opportunity for people to hear about WRAP, a system for monitoring, reducing and eliminating uncomfortable or dangerous physical and emotional difficulties. Chrys Muirhead successfully completed the WRAP facilitator training held in Edinburgh recently and organised and facilitated this course in partnership with Eric Nicol, a colleague from the WRAP course and the Recovery Impact Worker with Turning Point Scotland.
The Scottish Recovery Network organised a WRAP facilitator training course led by The Copeland Center, Arizona, from 9 – 13 June 2008 in Edinburgh. There were 18 places available on this course which required successful completion of the Stage 1 WRAP training course.
Chrys Muirhead attended this facilitator course after completing the 2-day first stage and it was an opportunity to share with others, develop relationships and hear from Stephen Pocklington who works closely with Mary Ellen Copeland, developer of WRAP. The facilitators will be enabled to deliver WRAP training themselves in a group setting as well as one-to-one. And this should be very useful for inclusion in any peer support training developments. Further information about WRAP is on the Recovery page.
The recovery conference at Elmwood College on 10 April 2008 was well attended by over 120 people, from statutory and voluntary sector mental health organisations in Scotland and England. Chrys Muirhead, conference organiser, welcomed everyone and spoke of her own personal recovery from mental ill health then introduced the opening speakers Prof Phil Barker and Poppy Buchanan-Barker who gave a thoughtful and inspiring presentation on their Tidal Model of recovery and reclamation. This was followed by seminar discussions around tables and in breakout rooms, addressing questions about the meaning of 'good' mental health, the impact of personal recovery stories, local and national recovery initiatives, and what else is needed.
A very good lunch was provided by Brigit and her team at the college with an opportunity for chat and making new contacts. This led on to the workshops and many of the folks enjoyed Ron Coleman's exhortation to 'celebrate recovery!', his stories about working in New Zealand and his recent move with his family to the very north of the Outer Hebrides. Moira Gillespie, chair of the Greater Glasgow Mental Health Network, spoke on her experience of Peer Support training which helps people to take control of their own mental health.
Another choice was to hear about the work of the Edinburgh Crisis Centre, 24/7 community based support for people who are using or have used mental health services, and their carers. Jacquie Watt, Manager, talked about the Centre's development and some of the experiences along the way. In yet another room Suzi Morrice a freelance community drama specialist and Gillian McKenzie, trainee drama worker, facilitated a 'liberating and fun-filled' workshop under the 'Horsecross Community' banner, encouraging confidence and creativity. Falkirk District Association for Mental Health, established in 1981, provided the final workshop with a presentation on their new £1 million centre recently opened after a 6 year fundraising effort. Many activites are held here including befriending, counselling, drop-in facilities, different groupwork activities and support. Susan Archibald was the final speaker and is involved in disability rights work, helping people to recover their self-worth and dignity.
Simon Bradstreet, Scottish Recovery Network Director, gave the vote of thanks and was encouraged by the conference focus on recovery, adding to the local and national movement in recovery-focussed mental health services. SRN sponsored this free event as part of its work to promote and support recovery from long term mental health problems across Scotland.
wellscotland.info
The updated Scottish Government website for people working in the field of mental health improvement. Information about the Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland action plan and 6 priorities.
raise.org.uk
Raise is an organisation which exclusively employs people with a diagnosed mental health problem - from directors to cleaners and, most importantly, trainers who are therefore able to inform from personal experience. Through their courses they aim to educate many sectors of the community regarding mental health and to challenge misconceptions.
rethink.org
The aim of Rethink is to make a practical and positive difference by providing hope and empowerment through effective services, information and support to all those who need them. People who use our services and their carers are at the heart of their vision and they believe that all those who experience severe mental illness are entitled to be treated with respect and as equal citizens.
shapingourlives.org.uk
Shaping Our Lives National User Network is an independent user-controlled organisation, think tank and network. Their vision is of a society which is equal and fair where all people have the same opportunities, choices, rights and responsibilities – a society where people have choice and control over the way they live and the support services they use.
nsun.org.uk
The National Survivor User Network has as its mission to create a network which will engage and support the wide diversity of mental health service users and survivors across England in order to strengthen the user voice. Their aims are to:
1. Facilitate active links between service user groups and individuals
2. Build capacity for service user groups
3. Broker and facilitate access to service users for purposes of influencing and informing policy-makers and planners
4. Develop a training programme in confidence building, committee, interview and staff training skills
NDTi.org.uk
The National Development Team for Inclusion is a not for profit organisation concerned with promoting inclusion and equality for people who risk exclusion and who need support to lead a full life. They have a particular interest in issues around age, disability and mental health and aim to:
* Shape and influence policy and public debate
* Enable a stronger voice of people to be heard
* Support services to work differently so that they promote inclusive lives
* Support communities to be welcoming and inclusive
University of Kansas Supported Education Group
Pathways to Recovery: strengths recovery self-help workbook, a valuable resource for anyone on their journey of recovery. It has over 400 pages of materials, stories and activities that aid a person in self-discovery, life goals and in establishing hope.
centreforconfidence.co.uk
The Centre for Confidence and Well-being, based in Scotland, is a catalyst for change. Its work is guided by the principles:
# Creative and entrepreneurial (as opposed to safe, traditional or corporate)
# Positive and optimistic
# Rigorous in our approach
# Values led/committed (as opposed to commercially driven or supposedly objective)
# Guided by common sense.
veteransfirstpoint.org.uk
A one-stop-shop for veterans living in Lothian, Offering help and assistance to veterans whatever their needs may be. The core of the operation is a team of peer support workers (PSWs) who act as the listening ear, all ex-servicemen or women, their role is to help the veteran move forward with their life.