
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
Link
Peer Support in Long Term Conditions: The Basics (PDF). Mental Health Foundation, Sep 2012.