Using Mead’s Intentional Peer Support Model as a basis for supervision with peer staff

The challenge:
With the emergence of the peer workforce across Australia and New Zealand, to date there is no agreed framework for supervisors/managers to best support peer workers to perform their roles.
A potential tool:
The model of Intentional Peer Support (IPS), as described by Shery Mead, is ‘a system of giving and receiving help founded on key principles of respect, shared responsibility, and mutual agreement of what is helpful’ (Mead 2003). This model provides a framework within which peer workers can intentionally use their lived experience to frame their practice. We propose that the model offers a meaningful framework from which supervisors/managers and peer workers can establish effective supervision relationships, drawing upon the 3 IPS principles which highlight the importance of relationship, learning and hope/possibility. We propose that both people with and without lived experience can use the principles in peer supervision relationships.
Experiences and learning:
We will present our experiences of drawing upon each of the three IPS principles in establishing effective supervision relationships. We will offer questions that attendees could use to reflect on their supervision relationships, and set tasks to potentially complete that could help them in establishing respectful and mutual learning relationships in peer supervision.
Learning Objectives
Learning Objective 1: What people in the audience will gain or learn from attending this presentation is how Meed’s International Peer Support model can be used as a framework from which supervisors/managers and peer workers can establish effective supervision relationships.
Learning Objective 2: This topic/issue is relevant to mental health services and mental health issues since services across Australia and New Zealand are currently increasing roles for peer staff and, to date, there is no agreed model/approach to best support these staff.