Education of peer consultants

Project full name:

EDUCATION FOR INVOLVEMENT OF PEER CONSULTANTS IN MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE-RELATED SOCIAL SERVICES



Involvement of peer workers (people with lived experience of mental illness) in professional teams within the mental health care system has been a long tradition in many countries. In the Czech Republic the first peer workers have also started work in teams of social service providers.
The lived experience with mental illness in itself is, however, not a sufficient qualification for work in social services. The successful involvement of a peer worker to become an asset for other team members as well as the service clients is conditioned by his/her continuous, professional and focused support in the field of education, paired with sufficient preparation of the team which the peer worker is entering.

The project will include the design, accreditation and organization of two educational courses:
1) Role of peer consultant for social service workers helping people with lived experience of mental illness.
Time frame: The preparatory stage will last from January to April 2015, the course as such will take place from May to July 2015 (1 course as part of the project; 2 days per month).
The creative and lecturing team will consist of 5 health care professionals, 1 peer consultant and 1 peer lecturer.
Under the project, the course (48 hours) will take place once to train altogether 12 participants.
2) Peer consultant in our team for members of teams where a peer consultant is going to be involved.
Time frame: The preparatory stage will last from March to July 2015, the course as such will take place from August to October 2015 (1 course per month).
The creative and lecturing team will consist of 2 mental health professionals and 2 peer consultants.
Under the project, the course (8 hours) will take place three times to train altogether 36 participants.
 
Time frame: 1 November 2014 – 31 October 2015
Contact: Petr Bittner (project manager), bittner@cmhcd.cz, +420 777 701 779
People in the project: Mgr. Pavel Říčan (expert guarantor), MUDr. Zuzana Foitová (head of “Role of peer consultant” team), MUDr. Jan Stuchlík (head of “Peer consultant in our team” team)