Authors: Rick Corney, Jane Measday
Year: 2019
Event: 2019 TheMHS Conference
Subject: Connecting2community: A case study in co-design, the lived experience workforce and service delivery.
Type of resource: Conference Presentations and Papers
Abstract:
Biography:
Rick Corney is a mental health peer worker who uses his lived experiences of schizophrenia to inform his practice. Rick’s passion for his work is driven by his belief that if he can live successfully in recovery, then with the right supports, others can too. Throughout his career, Rick has worked to support and develop the consumer workforce and he is currently a member of the DHHS (Vic) Consumer Workforce Development Group. In 2017, Rick was employed at Ballarat Community Health as the organisation’s first peer worker.
Connecting2community is a new community mental health program being delivered in regional Victoria by Ballarat Community Health and Grampians Community Health. Co-designed by consumers and delivered by peer workers; Connecting2community provides tailored, client-centred support to assist participants achieve their mental health goals. The model is recovery focused and maximises identified benefits of lived-experience peer workers; including self-determination, empowerment, social inclusion and hope (1). Supported by co-design specialists, The Australian Centre Social Innovation (TACSI), Connecting2community was developed and prototyped over 18 months. Underpinning this process was the mind-set that people are experts in their own lives and should be active participants in decisions that shape their lives, and evidence that involving people with lived experience in the identification of challenges and solutions is critical to the development of successful programs (2). In January 2019, Connecting2community was funded by the Western Victoria PHN for 30 months under the National Psychosocial Support Measure (3). During this presentation, the General Manager and Peer Worker will share their journey in co-designing Connecting2community and the outcomes and lessons of the first months of delivery.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: An understanding of co-design
Learning Objective 2: The value of lived experience in the mental health workforce
References
1. Repper, J., & Carter, T. (2010). Using Personal Experience to Support Others with Similar Difficulties: A Review of the Literature on Peer Support in Mental Health Services. London: Together/University of Nottingham/NSUN.
2. Ning, L. (2010). Building a ‘user driven’ mental health system. Advances in Mental Health, 9, 112–115.
3. Lyon, A., Dhaliwal, J., & Wood, C. (18 December 2018). Getting it Right: National Psychosocial Support Measure Co-design Forum. Think Place and Primary Health Care Networks. Accessed from: https://www.semphn.org.au/ThinkPlace-PHN-National-Psychosocial-Support-Measure-NPS-Workshop-Conv_181030_164540.pdf
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