Authors: Aimee Sinclair
Year: 2017
Event: 2017 TheMHS Conference
Subject: Change, Innovation, Reform, Lived Experience, Recovery, Research & Evaluation Informing Practice
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
Abstract: This paper examines the interim findings from ‘Peer2Peer’, a peer led and evaluated hospital to home project. The project is of significance as the first community-based, peer led hospital diversion program in Western Australia that incorporates an in-reach approach.
Research shows that one of the times individuals are most at risk of suicide is during the first week post discharge from hospital after a period of emotional/mental distress. Peer2Peer is critical in addressing a gap in both local and national evidence on the benefits of peer led initiatives in community based care, hospital prevention and suicide prevention.
Peer2Peer is a collaboration between the West Australian peak body for mental health consumers (Consumers of Mental Health WA), Mental Illness Fellowship of WA (MiFWA) and St John of God Hospital Midland (SJOG), and is funded by the WA Primary Health Alliance.
The peer led evaluation includes contributions from consumers, peer workers and hospital staff. The presentation will include our findings to date, including experiences with peer led participatory research, and the challenges and enablers to project delivery.
The presentation contributes to sector understanding of the factors/contexts of supporting transitional arrangements when people move from hospital to home, and the impact of peer run collaborative programs.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: Gain understanding around some of the factors/context that contribute to a successful peer run hospital to home project.
Learning Objective 2: The topic is relevant to mental health services as it provides an example of an innovative response to suicide prevention and delivering value for money. It also provides knowledge and experience around building lived experience into programs (co-designed, co-produced and co-evaluated).
References
Wall M, Wang S, et al (2016) Short-term Suicide Risk After Psychiatric Hospital Discharge. JAMA Psychiatry. 73 (11):1119-1126. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.2035
Drake, S, Garza, B; Cron, S; Wolf, D. (2016) Suicide Within 72 Hours After Discharge From Health Care Settings: Decedent Characteristics. American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology. 37 (1): 32-34
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