2014 panel discussion about peer respites at the California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions
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A 2016 presentation to the Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force about peer-run respites.
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A 2017 presentation to the California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies about results of the Self-Employment Starts with You survey.
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In this presentation for the Doors to Wellbeing Technical Assistance Center, we discuss service user-research, which is a type of CBPR in mental health in which individuals with professional research qualifications and lived experience are project leaders or co-leaders. It explicitly uses lived experience in research work. Despite the continued development of service user-research internationally, service user research in the USA continues to encounter significant barrie
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In this webinar, presenter Morgan Pelot will discuss the research on the effectiveness of peer respites and the evidence supporting them. Presenter Sae Kim will discuss a practical application of this literature at the Monarch House, a peer respite in Wisconsin. Sae will also cover how peer respites are responding to COVID-19 and how these crisis services are valuable during this time of quarantine.
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U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Full Committee hearing in 2014 on access to higher education for students with disabilities.
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In partnership with the California Association of Mental Health Peer-Run Organizations (CAMHPRO), Live & Learn, Inc. conducted a survey on the impact of stakeholder advocacy on decisions affecting public mental health systems in California. The California Mental Health Stakeholder Advocacy Survey was designed by people with personal experience of the mental health system and related advocacy work from CAMHPRO, Live & Learn, Inc., and Shifa Consulting.
Read MoreThe Guidebook for Peer Support Program Self-Evaluation: Practical Steps and Tools can be used to document program operations and outcomes, and to build evidence for the efficacy of peer support programs. In a world of limited resources, conducting evaluations can be a challenge. We created this guidebook in response to frequent requests from peer-run organizations for practical, low-cost, or no-cost tools they could use to evaluate their programs. We have included recommendations on best practices in self-evaluation and data monitoring based on techniques used by other peer support organizations and in the world of program evaluation. It provides basic, practical guidance on developing a logic model, identifying outcomes, selecting measures/ indicators, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting findings.
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Peer-run organizations provided a range of supports and educational and advocacy activities and varied in their capacity and resources. Some variation was explained by the degree of consumer control. These organizations seemed to be operating consistently with evidence on peer-run models. The reach of peer-run organizations, and the need for in-depth research, continues to grow.
Read MorePeer respites are voluntary, short-term residential programs designed to support individuals experiencing or at risk of a psychiatric crisis. These programs posit that for many mental health services users, traditional psychiatric emergency department and inpatient hospital services are undesirable and avoidable when less coercive or intrusive community-based supports are available. Intended to provide a safe and homelike environment, peer respites are usually situated in residential neighborhoods. These programs are starting to spread across the United States, yet there is very little rigorous research on whether they are being implemented consistently across sites and which processes and outcomes may lead to benefits for persons experiencing psychiatric crises and for overburdened mental health systems. This Open Forum outlines implementation and research issues that peer respites face.
Read MoreThis study sought to understand whether knowledge of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was associated with willingness of mental health peer-run organizations to become Medicaid providers. Through the 2012 National Survey of Peer-Run Organizations, organizational directors reported their organization's willingness to accept Medicaid reimbursement and knowledge about the ACA. Organizations had both ideological and practical concerns about Medicaid reimbursement. Concerns about Medicaid reimbursement can potentially be addressed through alternative financing mechanisms that should be able to meet the needs of peer-run organizations.
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This study examined peer-run organizations’ attitudes towards collaborating in health homes. Data were drawn from the 2012 National Survey of Peer-Run Organizations. Multinomial logistic regression modeled the association between organizational willingness to participate in a health home and salient factors. Current efforts, planned efforts to encourage physical healthcare, and staff size were associated with willingness to collaborate in health homes. Some organizations were concerned about power dynamics with potential medical collaborators. Relationships with medical providers, staffing capacity, and concerns about coercion should be considered when integrating peer-run organizations and health homes.
Read MorePeer respites strengthen self-reliance and social connectedness and offer a viable alternative to traditional crisis services for some people some of the time. The results suggest potential “key ingredients” for peer respites, including a homelike environment, voluntary and self-determined supports, and peer support staff who possess the capacity for developing healing and genuine connections with guests while also promoting shared responsibility and self-reliance. Future research should further develop this theory of change and establish peer respite fidelity criteria based on program elements that seem to contribute to positive outcomes.
Read MoreThis research study developed a measure to look at service users’ experience of IPS. The IPSCC scale was found to address three underlying factors: Connection, Risk, and Communication. It had acceptable measurement properties commonly used in scale development, and the results fit with theories of peer support. It can also be used in research studies on other forms of peer support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
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Advantages of self-employment for people with psychiatric disabilities, who may have disrupted educational and employment histories, include opportunities for self-care, additional earning, and career choice. Self-employment fits within a recovery paradigm because of the value placed on individual preferences, and the role of resilience and perseverance in business ownership. This commentary elucidates the positive aspects of self-employment in the context of employment challenges experienced by individuals with psychiatric disabilities and provides recommendations based on larger trends in entrepreneurship.
Read MoreThis exploratory study identified characteristics of individuals’ work and disability histories, as well as business characteristics, that can inform policy and practice development in support of disability-owned small businesses. Self-employment is not necessarily a fit for everyone, but for individuals with psychiatric disabilities, it may be a pathway back to work. The size of the respondent businesses and the part-time nature of the work suggests that individuals with psychiatric disabilities are operating very small businesses that may serve as a wage employment alternative if they are able to grow in the future, or be sustained as a part-time adjunct to public benefits or other paid or unpaid work.
Read MoreSelf-employed individuals with psychiatric disabilities used informal business supports more than help from institutions. Friends, family, mentors, online resources, and other business owners were most frequently a source of support and were rated most helpful. Institutional supports, for example the Small Business Development Center, were less frequently used and less likely to be considered helpful. Entrepreneurs with psychiatric disabilities may benefit from supports specific to their needs and preferences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Read MoreThe New York Times reports that the medical profession has no good answer for people struggling to stop taking the drugs — no scientifically backed guidelines, no means to determine who’s at highest risk, no way to tailor appropriate strategies to individuals.
Read More"This is something people choose, and we don't know enough about it to help people," says Laysha Ostrow, chief executive officer of a mental-health consultancy in California and a public-health researcher who worked on the study. "I feel that it's important to bring those ideas into more of a mainstream conversation, given how many people decide to discontinue. It shouldn't be this subversive thing that we don't talk about in the health-care system or in research."
Read MoreTo enhance service user choice and prevent undesirable outcomes, this first U.S. survey of a large sample of longer-term users sought to increase knowledge about users’ experience of medication discontinuation. About half (54%) met their goal of completely discontinuing one or more medications; 46% reported another outcome (use was reduced, use increased, or use stayed the same). Of respondents who completely discontinued, 82% were satisfied with their decision.
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