To: Providers of Peer Support across Canada From: The Peer Project Team Leader
December 10, 2010
Subject: Communiqué about the Peer Project – Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC)
An invitation to almost 600 peer support workers and agencies was sent on August 6th, 2010, inviting recipients to complete a short survey and also asking them to indicate their desire to participate in the MHCC Peer Project, by way of a process of consultations. The invitation list was compiled from research, direct outreach, networking, and the MHCC mailing list that was established for the Making the Case for Peer Support report. To date, over 200 peer support providers have completed the short survey and are now included in our database.
114 people involved with mental health peer support took part in the in‐person consultations that were conducted coast to coast this fall. We were pleased to have the participation of several members of our
aboriginal communities, and the input we received from them made us realise that we need to learn a lot more about the diversity of our aboriginal peoples and how best to take into consideration their unique cultural needs as we move forward.
In a Peer Project update posted in September 2010, I advised it would be impossible for me to meet everyone who wished to participate in the face‐to‐face consultations that would be taking place; however, I did commit to sending everyone who wished to be consulted the comprehensive survey, which is the next step in the consultation process.
If you previously did not express an interest in being a part of this consultation process and you have since changed your mind, it is not too late to still be a part of it. By completing a short survey within the next few days at http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/Pages/tellus.aspx and indicating that you would like to be consulted, we will send you the comprehensive survey, which is due to be finalized and issued in mid‐
December.
The consolidated results from the comprehensive survey will result in the component parts of the overall framework for the Peer Project. The components have been determined by the majority of you who have chosen to be a part of this open, democratic and participative process. Most importantly, the framework will have been decided by those of us who have personal lived experience with a mental health condition or who have been personally affected in a direct way by the mental illness of a loved one.
I would like to take advantage of this communiqué to thank all of you who were able to participate at the in‐
person consultations. Your input was invaluable and you represented the peer support function across Canada in a truly professional and remarkable way, doing honour to all those who provide mental health peer support.
The in‐person consultations that were conducted focussed on 4 main areas, namely: the national Standards of Practice (competencies, knowledge, experience, and code of conduct), which will be the basis for a national certification credential; expected outcomes and appropriate evaluation methods to develop an evidence‐based framework for the peer support function, and the organizational requirements that need to be in place to properly implement peer support within different settings. At each of the consultation sessions, participants were given an opportunity to ask questions and also express any concerns vis‐à‐vis the Peer Project.
A couple of unexpected bonuses resulted from the consultations. The core values of peer support emerged naturally from everything that was told to us, and the principles of practice for peer support were also articulated as we sought to formulate the Code of Conduct statements for peer support workers.
Consequently, we will also be asking your views on these as part of the comprehensive survey.
There were two overarching concerns expressed during the consultations that merit special attention, and they are addressed, immediately below:
1. Why is the Peer Project placing emphasis on certification of peer support workers within the
workplace and not other places where peer support is being provided in communities across Canada?
Response: Peer support appears to already be functioning quite well in communities across Canada. However, it is a method of mental health support that has yet to be adopted in workplaces. It has been estimated that mental illness results in $51 billion of lost productivity each year in Canada alone. This points the Peer Project in the direction of the workplace as a priority. However, the intention of the MHCC has always been to make certification available to peer support workers in other systems across Canada, based on demand. If you believe that the Standards of Practice could be a good fit for you or your organization, then you will be able to voluntarily choose to seek the national certification credential, once the program has been fully established.
2. If peer support work is semi‐professionalized, could that not result in losing the very authenticity of peer helping relationships, taking away from the natural, organic way in which they now function?
Response: This concern could indeed be a very valid one and the solution that was proposed during the consultations was to make the concern explicit; in other words, acknowledge it, bring it out in the open and address it. A number of you suggested that this should be included in the formal training of peer support workers. We have decided to include this issue as an open‐ended question in the comprehensive survey. We look forward to receiving any additional suggestions you may have.
We are still in the process of integrating final input from the consultations so there will be a short delay in sending out the comprehensive survey, however, we are targeting to deliver it to you by the end of next week.
We know it’s the holiday season but you’ll have until the 15th of January, 2011 to complete it. This time around we will have to abide by the established cut‐off date for survey returns because of the time constraints to proceed with next steps in the Peer Project.
Wishing you all the very best of the season!
Stéphane Grenier
Peer Project Team Leader
