This brief new guidance will be of interest if you are involved in delivering or planning peer support for people with long term conditions.
It’s the result of a research project carried out in Scotland during 2010-11, which reported that:
Peer support activity for people with long term conditions across Scotland had a positive impact on people’s emotional and physical health but access to such services is inconsistent.
The four models of peer support in long term conditions are:
- Befriending/buddying
- Peer mentoring
- Facilitated peer support
- Peer led support groups
This guidance covers the basics of developing and improving the quality of peer support services, which are:
- Background (what is a peer in long term conditions, the benefits of peer support, different models of peer support)
- Who benefits most from peer support
- The matching process
- Formalising peer support
- Roles and functions
- Confidentiality
- Clarifying boundaries
- Support and supervision
- Training
- Partnership working
- Sustaining peer support services
- Evaluation and monitoring
The guidance was launched yesterday by Project Manager Amy Woodhouse, at the Peer Support for Long Term Conditions Networking event in Glasgow.
Link
Peer Support in Long Term Conditions: The Basics (PDF). Mental Health Foundation, Sep 2012.
