Peer workers are a cornerstone in delivering recovery-focused mental health services. This recognition is reflected in the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan which identifies peer workers as a fundamental whole-of-system enabler needed to ensure a responsive and effective mental health system. Similarly, the national Primary Health Network implementation guidance for mental health and suicide prevention envisages a role for peer workers across the stepped care programmatic model, and the National Disability Insurance Agency has also identified peer workers as an important
... Show more
Peer workers are a cornerstone in delivering recovery-focused mental health services. This recognition is reflected in the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan which identifies peer workers as a fundamental whole-of-system enabler needed to ensure a responsive and effective mental health system. Similarly, the national Primary Health Network implementation guidance for mental health and suicide prevention envisages a role for peer workers across the stepped care programmatic model, and the National Disability Insurance Agency has also identified peer workers as an important element in recovery for people with psychosocial disabilities. This needs assessment of the mental health peer support workforce in the Northern Territory (NT) was commissioned by the NT Primary Health Network (NT PHN) and aims to identify: (1) pathways for people wanting to enter into the mental health peer support workforce; (2) the skills gaps that exist in the current workforce; and (3) the professional development opportunities that are available to ensure the workforce is appropriately skilled, qualified and utilised in line with national mental health standards and practices.
Strengthening the NT mental health peer support workforce requires organisational readiness and capacity to ensure workplaces have effective systems and supportive cultures and practices to accommodate people with lived experience. This goes beyond identifying potential peer workers, training them and providing job and career opportunities. Unlike other states, the NT does not have an established and pervasive history of valuing the experience and contribution of people with lived experience and entrenched consumer-driven mental health service delivery. Strengthening the emerging peer support workforce requires significant investment to ensure that the employing organisations are properly equipped to support them. The required investments of time and management capacity are likely to need to be subsidised using new, additional resources/funding.
Edited excerpts from publication.
Show less
