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The Power of Peer Support

The Power of Peer Support. Norine Jaloway Gill, CRC Martha Garber, M.Ed., LPC APSE Conference, June 2012. Objectives. To discuss the issues around employment for persons with mental health disabilities To review the JOB FIT model

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The Power of Peer Support

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  1. The Power of Peer Support Norine Jaloway Gill, CRC Martha Garber, M.Ed., LPC APSE Conference, June 2012

  2. Objectives • To discuss the issues around employment for persons with mental health disabilities • To review the JOB FIT model • To describe the benefits of Peer Support promoting independence and employment

  3. Why work? • $$$ • Income allows more choices: • Where we live; How we live; and How we play • Community benefit • taxes, economy, etc.

  4. Employment Facilitates Recovery • Large part of our identity • Better self-esteem • Connects us to others (natural supports) • Related to hopes, dreams, aspirations

  5. What people want • 60 to 70% of people with severe mental illness would like to work in competitive employment • Yet, 85% are unemployed • Less than 25% with severe mental illness receive vocational assistance

  6. JOB FIT, an employment service and an opportunity

  7. Job Fit model • Supported employment • Peer support • Research • Student training

  8. Role of Peer Support • Promoting personal growth • Wellness • Practical Support

  9. Promoting personal growth • Advocacy • Self-advocacy and self-determination • Short-Term Goal Setting • Long-Term Goals Setting

  10. Wellness • WRAP – Wellness Recovery Action Plan • Health education • Physical education • Stress reduction/relaxation response • Supporting their Wellness Goals

  11. Practical Support • Resources • External Supports • Real Life Applications

  12. Employment Issues: • Stigma • Disincentives – financial and benefits • Access to services that support work – short and long term

  13. I. Stigma • Public • Self • Families • Providers • Employers

  14. Stigma results in misconceptions • Violent and unpredictable • Weakness in character • Cannot tolerate stress • Second rate workers

  15. Results of Stigma • Prejudice and Labeling • Hopelessness and low self esteem • Isolation from family, work and community • Reduces opportunity and resources • Deny illness and/or treatment • Harassment and/or physical violence

  16. Widely held beliefs • Employment is not advisable for most people with a psychiatric diagnosis. • “They” are not employable. • “They” don’t want to work. • Work is a therapy.

  17. II. Disincentives: • Medical benefits • Supplemental benefits • Housing options • Fear • Discouragement

  18. Best Practice • Financial planning and disability benefits counseling who are dependent on SSI or SSDI • Involve family and/or significant others in supporting work efforts • Providers should assist consumers to deal with difficult issues for reasonable accommodations, disclosure, etc.

  19. III. Access to Employment Supports • Time limited vs. ongoing supports • Natural and paid supports • Peer supports valued in the structure of employment

  20. “You do not have to be well to go to work; sometimes you go to work to get well.” Richard Pimentel, 1990

  21. Supported Employment • 20 year history • Higher employment rates • Lower use of mental health services • Supports recovery

  22. Supported Employment Key Principles: • Integrating vocational services with mental health services. • Offering consumers competitive employment in socially integrated settings. • Job development must respect consumer choice and career preferences.

  23. Supported Employment 4. Rapid job placement completed as soon as possible after program entry. 5. Providing on-going vocational support services. • Including peer support services for consumers. Cook, Loff, Blyler et.al., Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005

  24. Issues • Job classification peer support • Expectations/acceptance of peer support role • Funding – using available resources

  25. “Mental illness is not a full time job” -SAMSHA website 2009

  26. Resources • National Alliance on Mental Illness – www.nami.org • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – www.samhsa.gov • Rethink - www.rethink.org • Bring Change to Mind – www.bringchange2mind.org

  27. Contact Information Martha Garber, M.Ed., LPC martha.garber@unt.edu Norine Jaloway Gill norine.gill@unt.edu 940-565-4000 http://www.pacs.unt.edu/jobfit

  28. “If work makes people with mental illness sick, what does unemployment, poverty, and social isolation cause?” -Joseph Marrone and Ed Golowka, 1999

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