Researching the impact of peer support as part of the care team

A team of CAMH researchers has been spending this summer exploring the impact of having peer support workers on teams in the Schizophrenia and Mood and Anxiety Programs. 

“The two programs have been working together in developing the peer role, preparing and training teams, learning from the Empowerment Council, and providing education and support around the recovery model”, says Mood and Anxiety Manager Gillian Young.

“It has been an ongoing process of learning and reflecting on how the peer support worker role can be most effective. Now we want to answer the question: What impact are the peers having on clients and teams?” says Gillian. 

According to Human Resources Employment Works! Coordinator Diana Capponi, a member of the team, “This initial research will assist in clarifying which aspects of  experiential knowledge (lived experience) are most valued by our clients while informing our curriculum development plans for CAMH peer support workers.”

Dr. Carolyn Dewa, far left and Dr. Nora Jacobson, far right, flank researchers Yasmin Lalani, centre left, and Lucy Trojanowski, centre right.  Yasmin and Lucy are conducting the peer support research interviews over the summer.

Over the summer months, Drs. Carolyn Dewa and Nora Jacobson from the Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit and the Work and Well-being Research and Evaluation Program have been helping the two programs find answers in the participatory research project.  The research team invited the peers, other team members, the developers of the project and clients to discuss their views on the roles and impact of the peers in focus groups and interviews. The peers were also asked to complete activity logs that describe their activities at work.   

The project seeks to answer several questions, such as what is peer support, how does it work, what does it bring to the teams and clients, and what are the challenges.

The findings will help guide the programs in deciding where to go in the future in terms of training needs, defining the effectiveness of peer support, and considering future ways to implement the role.  In addition, the goal is to contribute to scientific research and to produce a full report on the benefits and challenges of the peer support worker role.

“Historically, mental health clients have been viewed as needing to be managed and serviced by the medical model,” explains Shannon, a Peer Support Worker. “As CAMH embraces the concepts behind recovery as part of its daily practices, Peer Support Workers are able to work with both the client and the team in exploring what recovery actually looks like.”

“Peer Support Workers engage in non-hierarchical roles with clients, partnering with them to realize goals around self-determination and self-advocacy and supporting those goals as they move from theory into practice.”

David, another Peer Support Worker, says, “Because peer support work is new at CAMH, there is very little known about the complexities of the role. Working on separate units doesn’t also allow for that discussion to happen. Bringing all of the peer support facilitators together for this project will allow us to come up with persistent themes surrounding our roles, including things that are working as well as issues that may need addressing.”

 “We look forward to having members of the CAMH community voluntarily participate in focus groups and interviews,” says Dr. Dewa. “For the units, it may mean giving colleagues time to meet with the researchers for one hour periods to hear their viewpoints.” 

“We hope this project will answer many questions and provide some guidance in future program development.” 

 

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