One implication from this review was the finding that ‘despite variation in peer support delivery, common values and principles of good practice peer support emerged’ (p1). Research participants included a range of leading peer support providers from across Australia with expertise and experience in this space. They described good practice peer support as:
- Flexible – Responsive to participant needs and preferences;
- User-led – Led by people with disability and families, based around lived experience;
- Focused on capacity building – Predominantly for individuals;
- Semi-structured and purposeful – Organised with a blend of issues and information-based content along with informal or unstructured forms of support; and,
- Community facilitated and based/linked – Reflecting the need for the peer program to be facilitated through a community organisation to enable participant connections, and for it to have a focus on forging links with others in the community (other peer groups, mainstream organisations, services and government).
As such, in this learning package, we will be assuming we are aiming to assist disability focussed peer organisations who provide delivery models that are unique but aligned with these principles of best practice. This will all be discussed further in future Modules.