Peer Pathways week long consultation - 26th September

@yellowcorgi and thanks @chibam for tagging us in.

answers:

Q5: I think some good info on the importance of self care, diet and sleep. These are huge factors and are usually play a role in burn out ect.

In term of support. My biggest thing is feeling ok to ask for help and feeing safe to express my needs.

Q6: Guide should detail the steps needed to to achieve goals. And all supports and recourses needed to support the person to their goal.

Q7: to have resourceful knowledge. be willing to explore all options with the client. Peer worker should not push their own agenda into the client. Peer workers should be led by the client but should also offer other perspectives and options to the client to open their minds and perspectives up to things the client might not have known was an option. Peer worker should not try to tell a client who they are and what they should do. Peer worker needs to respect the client’s autonomy but obviously not encourage and support bad or dangerous behaviour. Peer worker should make client feel accepted and like they can be themselves and be successful in life at the same time.

Teach client resilience and coping strategies.

@chibam Thanks for tag

@Daisydreamer @Little_Leopard @yellowcorgi @maddison

One problem I see is that that the peer 'system' may not really address people at different parts of the life cycle. It seems to have a decent purpose in trying to prepare people for work readiness, but I do not really fit in this system. The idea that a young person will teach me about diet and exercise or even knows what I have been through does not stack up with my strengths and needs, ( eg., when they probably have eaten more crap in their short life than I have in my long one- I made an art of surviving on a shoestring which included a lot of rice and basic vegetables and I am not Asian). Yes I know someone being nice and empathetic is better than someone being abusive, but it can be really patronising, which ultimately is a form of abuse.

Some understanding about the complexity without dismissing or invalidating the person is important.

It seems a bit of a 'one size fits all' solution. To truly address psychosocial conditions needs a broader approach. The physical health needs of the person often become more complex as they age, as may the mental health needs.

I am concerned that a hierarchy is not always a good thing. Sometimes a lot of common sense is lost in the big team approach.

Thanks for the tag @chibam . I’ll answer later because I’m going for an appointment now.

Woops double post so deleting one.

@Appleblossom

Good point.

I’m also not willing to participate in a system which is patronising to me and my condition.

I know about my condition more than any outsider and only my doctor and treating psychologist and psychiatrist get to talk to me about managing my health.

My previous mention of diet, exercise and that stuff was more in reference to ensuring adequate self care is maintained. Self care, good health and personal care seems to be collateral damage when we are severely triggered or relapsing or regressing (or what ever depending on the person). So in these instances it’s important that someone in our lives is checking in to make sure we are in the best position to get out of our rut.

Like you said. For any for one to patronise us on our self care is totally unacceptable. My comment on these things are more in reference to having someone check in and make sure that we are still taking care of ourselves. Especially for the people who don’t have family to rely on or someone living with them that can notice these things.

I’m glad you bough this up because it would be a deal breaker for me. I would not be accepting anyone patronising me and looking down on me. I have had enough of that in my life. Anyone doing that kind of thing to me clearly has no idea about my condition and I would be better without them. My condition is way to complex to be put down to diet and exercise. And I think that is true for most people here.

You are also right about not one size fits all. I totally agree and have found myself clashing with people in the past who act like they know more about me than I do. I have had more bad experiences than good with this kind of thing. The good experiences have always been with people who don’t just listen but hear. They also have a good level of self awareness and can admit when they don’t know the answer. Even if they don’t know the answer they will help you get the help or solution that you need. Because they care about you, not because there is something wrong with you that they want to fix.

These are really great @chibam I think it takes a particular type of awareness, one that I don't really have! , to pursue filmmaking.

I think I would be a good critique, from a perspective, tho Im not someone who notices the ' mechanics' or process involved in filmmaking.

Scriptwriting, screenwriting are such interesting answers & something I've never thought of as a way to describe myself!

I recently watch C'mon C'mon with Joaquin Phoenix. Have you seen that one? It's very artsy - if that is your type of thing. I thought it was great!

Hi @chibam thank you for your thoughts! @Daisydreamer and I work closely together in the Peer Pathway Program. I've taken on the posting for yesterday as she's been focussing her time on certain tasks for SANE as a whole. She will be online later today to read through the posts 😊

Very important points around intentions and fostering healthy and meaningful relationships with peer mentors. We are grateful for the experiences being shared as we go through developing and designing the program. We hear you and value you and your insight. Rest assured these are all shaping the Peer Pathway Program! 🙏😌

Tagging everyone to follow the discussion 🙂

@Anastasia @AussieRecharger @Faith-and-Hope @HenryX @jem80 @Judi9877 @NatureLover @outlander @Shaz51 @ShiningStar @Snowie @Hams @wellwellwellnez @Aniela @Boo13 @maddison @pinklollipop15 @Eve7 @maddison @Little_Leopard @Paperdaisy @Zoe7 @BPDSurvivor @tyme @Sandra23 @Patchworks @StuF @Historylover @Appleblossom @Captain24 @Bow @Peregrinefalcon

Hi there @chibam

I really like what you wrote about what the peer mentor role should look like. I completely agree!

Hanami

Hi everyone, I’m going to be working through to respond to all your comments this afternoon. Thank you all for being so open to sharing your experience, it’s giving us a lot to think about and consider, which is really important and vital! Especially about how this programs remains safe and promotes agency and choice for those who put their hand up to participate

@maddison you made a really excellent point about the impact that drawing on your personal experience in a peer support context can have, and I would love to see this program work with participants around looking after wellbeing when sharing story. You also raised some brilliant questions about different types of peer work roles and settings (as there are so many places peer support can be applied). This is something we can build into the training!

@chibam you mentioned "Thanks, @Daisydreamer 🙂. I think that just knowing that SANE is aware of the potential problems that could occur with a program like this, greatly reduces my concerns that such problems will actually occur." We really value you letting us know where the potential problems are, it helps us plan and ensure we are thinking about the program from all angles, so thank you! I am glad to hear that your concerns are feeling reduced

You have made so many fantastic points about employment and peer mentoring, and we are writing all of these down to explore as part of this project. Some in particular that really stand out to me include broadening societal understandings of employment; you are so right that interests can span beyond the current 'workforces' that exist, and this is important for us to keep in mind to ensure we are inclusive.
Also, the mention around the power imbalance and heirachy that can occur in mental health services, and that's something we will explore further as well. To build safety for participants, how we create shared power and reduce that power imbalance between the Peer Pathways participants and Peer mentors is essential, as well as allyship to be an advocate. All very good points you have made about what the Peer Mentor role should look like

Thankyou @Daisydreamer you do such an amazing job at conveying the importance of being heard. I personally, feel encouraged & supported by your response. I think it's great that we can have open conversations like this. I think many of us have been in a vulnerable position in one time in our life. It's heartbreaking that schemes exist that proport to support vulnerable, when uncovered, are actually a system designed to exploit. My personal insight, is that we might not have the power to change corrupt systems - we do have the power - to empower each other on a personal level. The fact that SANE is open & willing to discuss realities of such systems makes me so enormously happy & proud!! It gives me great confidence that Peer Pathways will be a huge success, & participants needs will be high priority. I didn't necessarily doubt that it ever would not be - I can only relate to experiences, that other members have also shared. I'm sorry, if this has caused SANE to take unnecessary accountability for a system that has long been broken. My personal experience with SANE has been one of the most valuable and rewarding interactions of my life. I think other members could say the same❤️ Thankyou for everything y'all do😊 It's amazing!!!