Clinician Perspectives about working alongside mental health peer workers in service teams

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recovery-oriented practice (ROP) is being steadily adopted worldwide. The current research aimed to examine perspectives of clinicians about having people with lived experience of mental health working in service teams. The data was collected pre-implementation of ROP at a clinical mental health service. The method was a 14-item survey. The research design was mixed methods, and narrative and exploratory in nature. The present paper explores the quantitative and qualitative data from seven of the items in the survey. Participants were 203 multidisciplinary clinicians consisting of 142 females, 46 males. Fifteen did not specify their sex. Results showed that nearly 9 out of 10 clinicians were keen to have peer workers in their teams. Nine out of 10 believed peer workers’ add value to consumers’ mental health outcomes. There were mixed opinions about whether peer workers should have equal status in teams. Most clinicians did not think peer workers were a burden on the workforce. Around 3 in 10 clinicians did not believe peer workers would make their jobs easier. Most clinicians thought peer workers added value to their work. Qualitative responses reflected these data. This study concludes there is considerable hesitancy about the role of peer workers in the clinical mental health space. Clinicians do believe peer workers should be employed in their team but are not sure of the benefits and liabilities. The present paper is a second in a series presenting data from clinicians’ perspectives about ROP.