Chapter 2: Peer Work in Mental Health Services

This chapter will provide an overview of the lived experience and peer support context and draws on the origins of peer work in mental health arenas. The recovery movement will be discussed and peer support will be put in context as an alternative/adjunct/complimentary role to the predominant biomedical model. What is the role of peer support in mental health settings? What is it that a peer does on a day-to-day basis? What are the principles and practices that a person with lived experiences engages in to operationalise peer support? What are the outcomes associated with peer support working and what does peer work look like when it works well? What type of settings does the peer work in and what teams are they a part of? This chapter explores some of the challenges peers face when integrating into teams and organisations. The dominance of the biomedical model will be discussed and how this can potentially impact on the peer's role in these settings.