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What does recovery mean
“RECOVERY IS ABOUT BUILDING A
MEANINGFUL AND SATISFYING LIFE, AS
DEFINED BY THE PERSON THEMSELVES,
WHETHER OR NOT THERE ARE ONGOING OR
RECURRING SYMPTOMS OR PROBLEMS”
SHEPHERD, BOARDMAN AND SLADE 2008
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Drivers for change.
• More people who develop mental health
problems will have a good quality of life –
greater ability to manage their own lives,
stronger social relationships, a greater
sense of purpose, the skills they need for
living and working, improved chances in
education, better employment rates and a
suitable and stable place to live’.
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No Health without Mental Health
DoH. 2011
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NSFT
Recovery Project approach
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Recovery colleges
• A therapeutic approach …
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Focuses on problems deficits and
dysfunctions
Focus on ‘fixing people’
‘Expert’ professionals know best
and prescribe what is good for
‘patients’
Problems are defined, and the
type of therapy is chosen, by the
professional ‘expert’
Maintains the power imbalance
and reinforces the belief that all
expertise lies with professionals
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An educational approach …
Focus on growth and development
– moving forward, discovering
your talents, developing your
skills, pursuing your ambitions
Focus on helping people to
become experts in looking after
themselves
Recognises expertise of lived
experience and professional
expertise in co-produced courses
Training replaces therapy
Patients become students
Selecting courses from a
prospectus replaces prescribing
and referring
Staff become coaches who help
people to find their own solutions.
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NSFT Recovery college
• All Courses Co produced, Co delivered
and Co received.
• First courses commencing october 2013
• 7 courses ranging from ½ day – six, ½
days.
• Building capacity to grow in second term
and beyond.
• Hub and spoke model.
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Peer Support Workers
“Peer support is a system of giving and receiving help founded on key
principles of respect, shared responsibility,
and mutual agreement of what is helpful.
Peer support is not based on psychiatric models and diagnostic
criteria.
It is about understanding another’s situation empathically through the
shared experience of emotional and psychological pain.
When people find affiliation with others whom they feel are “like” them,
they feel a connection.
This connection, or affiliation, is a deep, holistic understanding based
on mutual experience where people are able
to “be” with each other without the constraints of traditional
(expert/patient) relationships”.
Sheryl Mead – Defining Peer Support (2003)
Independent Peer Support Consultant & Trainer (USA)
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Peer Support Workers
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Benefits for Peer Workers
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As beneficial for the Peer Support Worker as those whom they help – shift from ‘patient’ to
‘employee’ and able to use their skills to assist others ... Including the general benefits of
being employed - financial, social, status, structure, decrease in relapse.
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Increased self-esteem, confidence, empowerment.
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Progress in personal recovery - skills learnt on the job aid their own recovery
Benefits for Services
Improved communication – help staff and patients to understand each other better
Reduction in staff workload - complement work of other members of the team
Changes in attitudes – too often staff only see people when they are at their most distressed
Peer Support Workers offer images of possibility for staff as well as people using services
Promotes recovery-focused practice – changes in the way the team think and talk about
people with mental health problems
Breaks down barriers between us and them
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Peer Support Workers for NSFT
• November commence co production of
training plan.
• November onwards Staff and team
training commences.
• January –february recruitment process for
students.
• March commence course.
• June first Peer Support worker posts
advertised.
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