Search results

Recently, the importance of a lived experience workforce in the delivery of mental health services has been demonstrated. The roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Australia has generated the need for a significant increase in the disability workforce, including psychosocial disability. The purpose of this paper is to describe the strategies outlined in the One Door Mental Health Lived Experience Framework (LEF), which is the culmination of over 30 years of experience in providing mental health services and the employment of a lived experience workforce.

One Door developed and implemented the LEF, a thorough guide to the employment and support of a workforce of people with lived experience of mental illness, through consultation with consumers, carers, stakeholders, practice advisors, management, human resources and employee focus groups.

Extensive support structures in the LEF are key to achieving the benefits of a lived experience workforce. The LEF has positioned One Door successfully for the achievement of key organisational goals in mental health support and advocacy.

Mental health policies and support are critical for productivity outcomes in any workplace regardless of the level of lived experience of the employees. This paper provides organisations, particularly those within the mental health sector, an example to build on in their own employment and support strategies.

This paper is of particular value in the context of organisations in the mental health sector transitioning to the NDIS.

This discursive paper presents a lived experience leadership model as developed as part of the Activating Lived Experience Leadership (ALEL) project to increase the recognition and understanding of lived experience leadership in mental health and social sectors. The model of lived experience leadership was formulated through a collaboration between the South Australian Lived Experience Leadership & Advocacy Network and the Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Research and Education Group.

As one of the outcomes of the ALEL research project, this model incorporates findings from a two-year research project in South Australia using participatory action research methodology and cocreation methodology. Focus groups with lived experience leaders, interviews with sector leaders and a national survey of lived experience leaders provided the basis of qualitative data, which was interpreted via an iterative and shared analysis. This work identified intersecting lived experience values, actions, qualities and skills as characteristics of effective lived experience leadership and was visioned and led by lived experience leaders.

The resulting model frames lived experience leadership as a social movement for recognition, inclusion and justice and is composed of six leadership actions: centres lived experience; stands up and speaks out; champions justice; nurtures connected and collective spaces; mobilises strategically; and leads change. Leadership is also guided by the values of integrity, authenticity, mutuality and intersectionality, and the key positionings of staying peer and sharing power.

This model is based on innovative primary research, which has been developed to encourage understanding across mental health and social sectors on the work of lived experience leaders in seeking change and the value that they offer for systems transformation. It also offers unique insights to guide reflective learning for the lived experience and consumer movement, workers, clinicians, policymakers and communities.

Mental health literacy programmes can help reduce stigma towards people who experience mental health challenges. Co-facilitated mental health literacy programmes, delivered by a person with lived experience of mental health challenges in partnership with a person with clinical experience in mental health services, may further reduce stigma. This qualitative study aims to explore participants’ satisfaction with a co-facilitated mental health literacy programme and facilitator characteristics influencing satisfaction.

The authors used deidentified post-workshop evaluation data from 762 community mental health literacy programme participants (86% response rate). Thematic analysis of qualitative data used a general inductive approach.

Findings indicate high satisfaction with the co-facilitation model used to deliver a mental health literacy programme. Three key themes related to co-facilitation satisfaction: how participants perceived the co-facilitation model overall; the impact of having two facilitators that offered different knowledge and perspectives about mental health challenges; and the impact of personal stories shared. The personal stories shared by facilitators were perceived as bringing the workshop content to life and providing insights into people’s experiences and well-being journey. Key themes influencing co-facilitation satisfaction related to facilitator knowledge, skills, values and attitudes.

Findings indicate the positive impact of incorporating people’s lived experience into the design and delivery of mental health literacy programmes. Findings highlight key facilitator characteristics and support needs when recruiting facilitators to deliver programmes. This includes good facilitation skills alongside personal experiences.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first large study examining satisfaction with a co-facilitated mental health literacy programme for the general public.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As self-advocate leaders, the authors aim to present the perspective of people with learning disabilities on “Behaviour that Challenges: A Unified Approach”. Building on firsthand accounts which reveal compassion and cruelty in the health-care system, the authors propose ways of working, which confirm and add to the thinking in “A Unified Approach”, especially “Capable Environments”.

To ensure integrity, the authors engaged contributors with lived experience of admission to secure care after acting in ways that put themselves or others at risk. The authors included the perspective of people whose severe learning disabilities limit them to few or no words as best they could by interviewing their parents. The authors were supported and advised in the writing of this commentary while retaining full control throughout.

While recognising compassionate care, the authors suggest the provider’s power over a person’s life is a central reason for the care system’s vulnerability to the cruelty evident in firsthand accounts. The authors propose practical ways to offset this power. Firsthand accounts suggest the key features of capable environments are communication, valuing families and developing a valued, caring, well-trained workforce. Lived experience in workforce training and peer-support to individuals offer great potential to transform outcomes.

The perspectives of diverse contributors with learning disabilities bring lived experience insight to the challenges of “behaviour that challenges”. The authors aim to add value by blending lived experience viewpoints with the emotion of firsthand accounts of care. The insights of lived experience – too often a marginal consideration in health-care design – are presented here as central to care that fully achieves what people want and need.

The purpose of this paper is to report the experience and impact of paid staff who are employed to use their lived experience of mental health issues and service use within a secure mental health provider.

A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was employed.

Results from this study suggest that employing lived experience workers (LEWs) in secure mental health settings is valuable to clinical staff, service users, the employing organisation and LEWs themselves. Findings emphasised the importance of support for LEWs to enable them to fulfil their role and maintain wellbeing, and the need to consider LEWs career progression within and beyond the role.

This study had a small sample size.

There is evidence to support LEWs in secure mental health settings and requirement for further understanding of their work in this environment. Specific recommendations include the need for training for clinical staff about the role of LEWs, specific LEWs role training, and regular supervision and mental health support for LEWs.

This is the first paper reporting the experience and impact of LEWs in a UK secure mental health service.

This paper aims to focus on The Pillars of Peer Support initiative, an ongoing project to examine and develop the principles of peer support services. These services are differentiated from peer support and define the parameters of a certified workforce that promotes recovery and fosters wellbeing. This process is based upon the lived experience of the peer support specialist.

A review of the literature indicates that a range of models and activities for peer support services have been developed, and established outcomes for these services are emerging. Since Medicaid has defined peer support services as reimbursable, the workforce has continued to expand. The Pillars of Peer Support initiative is designed to provide a standard set of principles to guide states in their work with Medicaid, and others in the development of this workforce.

The results of three Pillars of Peer Support summits are presented. This includes the 25 Pillars that have been developed and their role and use in state funded and other services. Additional findings support the process through which states and others can build these resources. A statement of how Peer Support Services fit within an essential health benefits package is also included.

The workforce of certified peer specialists is rapidly expanding. Their role in providing peer support services is identified, and principles to guide their professional roles are presented. This will help guide the field in the development and deployment of this important component of the healthcare delivery system.

The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to explore the concept of experiential peer support, which involves individuals who have lived experiences of using care and justice services. This paper discusses whether experiential peer support can contribute to developing a participatory culture in youth justice practice.

This viewpoint paper will critically evaluate the relational power of experiential peers. Particular attention will be paid to the key components of relational practices by reflecting on ways to enhance the voice of the child within participatory and child first approaches. The paper draws on a range of evidence and research to explore whether inclusion of a lived experience perspective can foster participatory cultures.

Experiential peers can create a participatory youth justice culture, which can positively impact on desistance for justice involved children.

Further research needs to be undertaken to extrapolate the key characteristics of effective experiential peer support. This includes discussion on whether recruitment of wounded healers into professional youth justice roles can enhance participation in youth justice settings and construct conditions for social growth to develop in youth justice practice.

The author of this viewpoint paper has personal experience of care, youth incarceration and professional experience of youth justice participation practice, providing a unique vantage point and contribution to the desistance and rehabilitation literature.