Implementing youth peer support in an early psychosis program

What is it about?

The development of a lived experience workforce in mental health is important but challenging. Implementing peer support in a youth mental health setting involves a further degree of complexity,This paper reports on an evaluation of the beginning stages of implementation of a youth peer workforce in an existing clinical mental health service in Melbourne. The project found that it was both possible and beneficial to implement youth peer support, however significant challenges remain, including lack of appropriate training for young people, uncertainty among clinical staff about the boundaries of the peer role and the potential for ‘tokenism’ in the face of slow cultural change across the whole service.

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