Tag Archives: carer peer support

SW London MH Carer Forum March 2022

Welcome to my March 2022 update of our SW London mental health carers forum. The group is a hybrid group of my other forums. Usually my carer forums focus on engagement and updates, but this one sometimes acts as a peer and network group for those caring for someone with mental illness.

Speakers for March 2022

  • Karen Persaud – SWLSTG – Carers, friends and family involvement coordinator
  • Gary Baker – Carers Support Worker – Richmond Mind
  • Antonia Buamah – Patient peer support – EMHIP– Ethnicity and Mental Health Improvement Project.

Karen from South West London & St George Presents

Karen who sometimes attends and engages with our group updated us on carer developments at the local SW London mental health trust. Karen spoke about the new carers peer support worker Zoe Hannah. The new role will be running for one year and should hopefully continue onwards.

The trust is actually really committed to pushing forward the lived experience workforce as part of their overall service delivery. This is where they have four services user peer support workers in posts. SWLSTG are also currently reviewing the trust’s carers strategy, which is quite outdated.

The new strategy will also be reflecting on the need for the trust to do more around supporting carers through their carers recovery journey, because carers go through a recovery alongside supporting loved ones through their own recovery journey. This means it is trying to balancing out wellbeing needs.

The next update for SWLSTG is there new recovery college course, which is being facilitated by Kingston adults education, college. The course has been adapted for wellbeing techniques for carers, families and friends. The course should be running for 10 weeks. Karen also updated briefly on the friends, families and carers group incase new members of our forum are interested in trust involvement.

Last updates from Karen was on the carer awareness training for staff, especially on induction for staff. This would involve carer communication skills plus carer involvement in the planning and discharge.

Gary Baker – Carers Support Worker – Richmond Mind presents

Gary fed back on how Ricmond Mind works closely with Richmond carers regarding mental health carers. Carers can be self refered or be referred to by another professional. Once they received that referral, Richmond Mind will contact the carer. From there the carer will be given access to support and workshops.

Gary mentioned that quite a few people tend not to like the term carer and tend to prefer being called a client or the person’s relative.

  • Responses from carer members.

Are services at Richmond could be offered in Merton or Kingston? (quite a few members asked about the services)
My question was on engagement from SWLSTG, I wondered if Richmond Mind staff have been invited to meetings. Gary talked at length regarding carer champion meetings.
The next question I asked for engagement from community mental health teams. This is where Gary mentioned that there was not enough.

Antonia presents on the Ethnicity and Mental Health Improvement Project (EMHIP)

Antonia talked about how the Ethnicity and Mental Health Improvement Project (EMHIP) is an attempt to reduce inequalities in access, experience and outcome of mental health care in South West London (Wandsworth & Tooting, Battersea locality). It was developed through the leadership and activism of leaders within the African, African Caribbean, and Asian communities.

The EMHIP advocates for a practical, locally based service improvement programme, co-designed with service users and local Black and Asian communities, based on established evidence, building on existing community led, co-produced projects.

In the UK, people from the Black and Asian community are being denied equal and compassionate mental health care.

  • They more likely to be brought to and kept in without their consent.
  • They are more likely to access mental health services through the police and criminal justice systems.
    find themselves unwell and back again, once released, particularly men
  • be forcibly restrained and given more than the recommended amount of medication.
  • The fence of mental heath for the Black and Asian community has been broken for several generations and the many promises of repair (partial or full) has not materialised to date.
  • We have delved deep, hence, our toolkit EMHIP– Ethnicity and Mental Health Improvement Project.

Antonia pointed out that as a community we’ve recognised that our broken fence must be repaired once and for all and have forged collaborations and partnership with many friends

South West London CCG (CCGs are now replaced to Integrated Care Boards)
South West London and St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust
Local context of Black and Asian – voluntary, faith and community groups

This can be organized via the non-profit Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network (WCEN)

The Hub offers our guests, visitors and other attendees a communal safe place to sit down, relax and have a conversation in a hospitable environment.

Service/Sessions provided:

¨ Physical Health and Wellbeing checks
¨ Citizen Advice Bureau/Housing First Aid
¨ Pastoral Systemic Therapy
¨ Mental Health and Wellbeing Out-patients type clinics
¨ Explore training or employment opportunities
¨ Promote on-going recovery
¨ Social life wellbeing
¨ Effective “active sign-posting” to the supportive local services or agencies

More information can be found below

Website: http://www.emhip.co.uk

Email: info@emhip.co.uk

This was a brief update for my SW London mental health carers peer group. For the month of July SW London NHS will be engaging our group regarding SW London’s mental health strategy. I for one will hope it will include families and carers.

Experiencing mental health caregiving – Carer peer support

Welcome back to a summary of chapter 3 of my book “Experiencing mental health caregiving”

This blog focuses on my 2nd book – Experiencing mental health caregiving. The book helps raise awareness of unpaid carers providing care to someone close suffering mental illness. The book highlights the experiences of providing unpaid caring.

For Chapter 3 – “Carer befriending and peer support” I asked carers several questions, but this video will look at the first question that being “What does carer peer support mean to you?

The reason I asked such a question was down to how can carers relate to others when caring can be a private and personal experience. Do carers know they can get support from others to reduce stigma and increase carer knowledge?

Just like the videos I have done on my 2nd book, I will sum up a few responses from those regarding “Carer Befriending and peer support”.

To check out the video summary see link below

So going back to my book, chapter 3 got responses regarding carer peer support, you can see the responses below.

One carer Jacqui Darlington responded

“A carer peer is someone who can offer emotional and practical support to another carer by using their own lived experiences which may enable them to overcome barriers, challenges and fears to achieve whatever it is they may need. They may also be known as Experts by Experience .”

I not only asked knowledgeable carers, but also engaged with mental health trusts.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust rep responded

“We train people up as peer support workers or carer peer support workers. We are now employing them in the jobs at the NHS trust. I think as a carer peer support worker, the difference between that and pure peer support worker is that the carer peer has lived experience in caring. .”

One last point – Another carer responded

“To me, carer peer means supporting a carer who may be struggling with the sometimes overwhelming difficulties experienced when caring for a loved one with mental health issues. Being there for that carer, sharing personal experiences and showing an understanding of what they are going through”

I asked 8 other questions for Chapter 3,

  • Have you experienced carer befriending and what did it feel like?
  • Where should carer peer support be located?
  • Do you think there is enough education on carer peer support?
  • Would you befriend other carers?
  • Is there a line or boundary to carer peer support?
  • Is there a difference between carer peer support and service user peers?
  • Why is carer peer support lagging behind?

The responses I will cover in a later video, but to sum up What does carer peer support mean to you?

I noticed that lived experience was critical to becoming a peer carer. To share your understanding and knowledge of the caring role and help those new to caring is vital in forming a connection.

if you are interested about mental health carers, you can buy my book on the link below