Abstract
People who willingly or unwillingly using psychiatric services often turn to each other for mutual (peer) support. Historically, peer support between those who found psychiatric treatments inadequate and/or harmful gave rise to a multi-vocal activist movement seeking to either dismantle, reform, or improve psychiatric services. Activism by this movement facilitated the emergence of a paid Lived Experience peer support workforce which has become the fastest growing workforce in the mental health sector.
This emerging discipline is now under intense pressure to define and standardise its practice. Peer support practitioners are adamant that defining our field of practice must be led and decided by those with direct experience in the field. However academic literature on this topic continues to be dominated by psy-professionals and our voice remains marginal.
This project seeks to forefront the perspectives of Queensland-based mental health peer support practitioners in academic debate by engaging local peer support practitioners (as Associate Researchers) within a community-based participatory research approach. The project will apply constructivist grounded theory in a mixed methods research approach to develop a substantive theory exploring how socio-political values impact mental health peer support practice approaches across Queensland. Research findings will contribute to local, national and international debates seeking to define mental health peer support practices. Findings will also contribute to the vocational education for the peer support workforce.
Bio
Chérie McGregor has worked for the past decade in identified Lived Experience roles in mental health treatment services; mainstream and peer operated community services; and academic institutions across regional Queensland. She was recruited as one of thirty Peer Champions nationally to be supported by the National Mental Health Commission to qualify to teach the Certificate IV Mental Health Peer Work. Chérie has also been involved as a sessional lecturer in teaching recovery approaches to undergraduate and post-graduate nursing students.
She is a current member (and one of the founding members) of the Queensland Lived Experience Leadership Roundtable who are leading efforts to establish a peak body for the Queensland Lived Experience workforce. Chérie is also a board member of the Australian branch of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis.
