Abstract
Mental health services are increasingly incorporating the views and expertise of people with a lived experience of mental illness in service delivery. A novel approach to this is the ‘integrated staffing model’ being trialled at two Australian public residential mental health rehabilitation services (Community Care Units, CCUs) where peer support workers (PSWs) occupy the majority of staff roles and work alongside clinicians. Semi-structured interviews were completed with fifteen staff 12-to-18-months after service commencement. Transcripts were analysed following principles of grounded theory analysis. Key emergent themes were: (1) recovery is a deeply personal and non-linear process; (2) The CCU as a transitional learning environment; (3) the integrated staffing model facilitates an effective rehabilitation team; and (4) coming together under the integrated staffing model required a steep learning curve. The findings suggest that the integrated staffing approach may provide a pathway to facilitate the meaningful inclusion of PSWs in rehabilitation settings.
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In accordance with the ethical approval, full transcript data are not publicly available. This restriction was due to the re-identifiable nature of the transcripts and the importance of establishing a safe space for participant disclosure.
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This project was enabled through in-kind support from the Metro South Addiction and Mental Health Service.
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EN, FD, MP, MW, RW and SP have been or are currently employed at the Metro South Addiction and Mental Health Service.
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Parker, S., Dark, F., Newman, E. et al. Staff Experiences of Integrating Peer Support Workers and Clinical Staff in Community-Based Residential Mental Health Rehabilitation: A Pragmatic Grounded Theory Analysis. Community Ment Health J 59, 703–718 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-01054-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-01054-1