The purpose of this paper is to look at peer support in the context of broader communities.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to look at peer support in the context of broader communities.
Design/methodology/approach
It builds on the author’s experience working with the Mental Health Foundation of developing delivering and evaluating several self-management and peer support initiatives in a variety of settings with a range of different peer groups. It will consider what constitutes a peer and a community, and explore the notion of community solutions for community problems.
Findings
Peer support in community settings has the capacity to address social isolation, build skills and self-esteem and give individuals a better quality of life – it can also add value to whole communities and reframe the way entire groups are considered within them. It has the ability to be both more accessible and less stigmatising and thus reach more people. This also offers community based peer support as a contributor to preventing the deterioration of mental health and potentially reducing the impact of mental ill-health.
Social implications
The author needs to think more in terms of whole community and get better at improving how the author measures and articulates this community benefit. This will allow us to make better decisions about how best to apply resources for long term whole community gain. Peer support and peer leadership needs to be at the heart of this process.
Originality/value
This paper places a familiar approach in a different setting placing peer support firmly outside services and within comunities.
Details
Keywords
Emily Satinsky, David Crepaz-Keay and Antonis Kousoulis
The purpose of this paper is to review the Mental Health Foundation’s experiences designing, implementing and evaluating peer-focused self-management programmes. Through a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the Mental Health Foundation’s experiences designing, implementing and evaluating peer-focused self-management programmes. Through a discussion of barriers and good practice, it outlines ways to be successful in making such projects work to improve mental health and wellbeing among at-risk populations.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 11 Mental Health Foundation programmes implemented over the past ten years were reviewed through reading manuals and publications and interviewing programme managers. Key data were extracted from each programme to analyse trends in aims, outcomes and recommendations.
Findings
Through a focus on peer-work, programmes taught individuals from a variety of societal sectors self-management skills to effectively deal with life stressors. Through sharing in non-judgmental spaces and taking ownership of programme design and content, individuals realised improvements in wellbeing and goal achievement.
Practical implications
Good practice, barriers and recommendations can be taken from this review and applied to future peer-focused self-management programmes. By better embedding quantitative and qualitative evaluations into programme development and implementation, programmes can add to the evidence base and effectively target needs.
Originality/value
This review lays out valuable experience on an innovative community service paradigm and supports the evidence on effectiveness of peer-focused self-management programmes with a variety of group populations.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to describe service user involvement, explain some of the key issues that define, affect or protect mental health in later life and show how…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe service user involvement, explain some of the key issues that define, affect or protect mental health in later life and show how involvement may contribute to better mental health in later life.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews existing definitions of involvement and mental health in later life; provides a more detailed review of some examples of involvement at a range of levels and illustrates how these could have a positive impact on mental health.
Findings
Active involvement and engagement at all levels offers significant opportunities for older people to protect and improve their own mental health and the mental health of society as a whole.
Research limitations/implications
This research does not set out to promote any particular intervention or involvement technique. The examples given have been evaluated in a variety of ways.
Practical implications
Service user involvement should be considered as an important potential contributor to mental health in later life.
Social implications
The paper encourages people in later life to be considered as a community resource rather than a problem that needs to be solved.
Originality/value
This paper brings together existing research with a focus on the relationship between involvement and individual and collective mental health.
Details
Keywords
Lijia Guo, Tine Van Bortel, Chiara Lombardo, Steven Martin, David Crepaz-Keay, Shari McDaid, Oliver Chantler, Lucy Thorpe, Susan Solomon, Alec Morton, Antonis Kousoulis and Gavin Davidson
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions created a range of potential additional stressors for families, particularly for parents living with children. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions created a range of potential additional stressors for families, particularly for parents living with children. This study aims to explore whether there were any differences in the mental health and emotional experiences of those living with children, and those who were not, during the pandemic and related lockdowns; and whether there were any specific risk factors associated with these mental health outcomes and emotional experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
Regression analyses of ten-wave repeated cross-sectional surveys between May 2020 and November 2021 on a total sample of 42,529 UK adults, which measured mental health with a range of pleasant and unpleasant emotional experiences. The interaction effects of living with children and age as well as marital status were tested.
Findings
During the pandemic, individuals who were living with children were more likely to feel hopeful (OR: 1.1) and grateful (OR: 1.163), less likely to feel hopeless (OR: 0.918) and lonely (OR: 0.799), while more likely to feel guilty (OR: 1.185), unprepared (OR: 1.195) and pressurised (OR: 1.14), than those not living with children. More nuanced findings and diverse emotional experiences were also found in people of different age groups and marital statuses.
Originality/value
This study has highlighted that being parents and living with children could be important factors of emotional distress, especially during the special circumstances of the pandemic and lockdowns, drawing on the large-scale national data.
Details
Keywords
Elvira Perez Vallejos, Mark John Ball, Poppy Brown, David Crepaz-Keay, Emily Haslam-Jones and Paul Crawford
The purpose of this paper is to test whether incorporating a 20-week Kundalini yoga programme into a residential home for children improves well-being outcomes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test whether incorporating a 20-week Kundalini yoga programme into a residential home for children improves well-being outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a mixed methods feasibility study. Feasibility was assessed through recruitment and retention rates as well as participants’ self-report perceptions on social inclusion, mental health and well-being and through semi-structured interviews on the benefits of the study. Mutual recovery entailed that children in care (CIC), youth practitioners and management participated together in the Kundalini yoga sessions.
Findings
The study initially enrolled 100 per cent of CIC and 97 per cent (29/30) of eligible staff. Attendance was low with an average rate of four sessions per participant (SD=3.7, range 0-13). All the participants reported that the study was personally meaningful and experienced both individual (e.g. feeling more relaxed) and social benefits (e.g. feeling more open and positive). Pre- and post-yoga questionnaires did not show any significant effects. Low attendance was associated with the challenges faced by the children’s workforce (e.g. high levels of stress, low status, profile and pay) and insufficient consultation and early involvement of stakeholders on the study implementation process.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach (i.e. feasibility study) and low attendance rate, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, further research with larger samples including a control or comparison group to pilot similar research questions is mandatory.
Practical implications
This study has generated a number of valuable guiding principles and recommendations that might underpin the development of any future intervention for CIC and staff working in children’s homes.
Social implications
The concept of togetherness and mutuality within residential spaces is discussed in the paper.
Originality/value
The effects of Kundalini yoga have not been reported before in any peer-review publications. This paper fulfils an identified need (i.e. poor outcomes among CIC and residential staff) and shows how movement and creative practices can support the concept of mutual recovery.
Details
Keywords
Toby Williamson and David Crepaz‐Keay
How far is our position within the mental health system ‐ as service user, survivor, carer or practitioner, for example ‐ fixed and defines what we can achieve? Is ‘expertise by…
Abstract
How far is our position within the mental health system ‐ as service user, survivor, carer or practitioner, for example ‐ fixed and defines what we can achieve? Is ‘expertise by experience’ something we all have and can share, irrespective of position, even when it may differ dramatically? Toby Williamson, previously head of policy at the Mental Health Foundation and an experienced practitioner, and David Crepaz‐Keay, senior policy advisor responsible for public and patient involvement at the Foundation and well known particularly within the survivor movement, debate these issues in an open and frank exchange of emails.
Valentina Iemmi, David Crepaz-Keay, Eva Cyhlarova and Martin Knapp
– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a peer-led self-management intervention for people with severe mental disorders.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a peer-led self-management intervention for people with severe mental disorders.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a one-arm longitudinal study without control group. In all, 262 adults with (self-reported) severe mental disorders, who have used secondary mental health services and were living in the community were evaluated at three time points (baseline, six and 12 months). Socio-demographic data were collected at baseline. Wellbeing (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale), functional living skills (Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II) and service use (Client Service Receipt Inventory) data were assessed over time.
Findings
Self-management for people with severe mental disorders improved wellbeing and health-promoting lifestyles. After an increase in the short term, costs appeared to decrease in the longer term, although this change was not statistically significant. Due to the lack of a control group, the authors are unable to attribute those changes to the intervention only. Nevertheless, the self-management intervention appears to warrant further attention on both wellbeing and economic grounds.
Originality/value
Self-management may facilitate recovery, helping to support people with severe mental disorders at no additional cost. Given recent emphasis on recovery, peer workers and self-management, this peer-led self-management approach for people with severe mental disorders appears to have potential.
Details
Keywords
Eva Cyhlarova, David Crepaz-Keay, Rachel Reeves, Kirsten Morgan, Valentina Iemmi and Martin Knapp
– The purpose of this paper is to establish the effectiveness of self-management training as an intervention for people using secondary mental health services.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish the effectiveness of self-management training as an intervention for people using secondary mental health services.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-management and peer support intervention was developed and delivered by secondary mental health service users to 262 people with psychiatric diagnoses living in the community. Data on wellbeing and health-promoting behaviour were collected at three time points (baseline, six, and 12 months).
Findings
Participants reported significant improvements in wellbeing and health-promoting lifestyle six and 12 months after self-management training. Peer-led self-management shows potential to improve long-term health outcomes for people with psychiatric diagnoses.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the lack of a control group, the positive changes cannot definitively be attributed to the intervention. Other limitations were reliance on self-report measures, and the varying numbers of completers at three time points. These issues will be addressed in future studies.
Practical implications
The evaluation demonstrated the effectiveness of self-management training for people with psychiatric diagnoses, suggesting self-management training may bring significant wellbeing gains for this group.
Social implications
This study represents a first step in the implementation of self-management approaches into mental health services. It demonstrates the feasibility of people with psychiatric diagnoses developing and delivering an effective intervention that complements existing services.
Originality/value
This is the first study to investigate the effectiveness of a self-management training programme developed and delivered by mental health service users in the UK.