Do we underestimate the power of “Peer Support” or do these words confuse things little?
At the end of the day, aren’t we just “giving someone a hand”?
Today whilst supporting a friend in the Law Courts for their first time I was basically “giving them a hand” which also made me think, this is  just another angle of “Peer Support”
The Department of Human Services (Vic) in collaboration with a group of individuals, family members and professionals who pulled together their thoughts on Peer Support & have recently launched a resource called
Disability Services Peer Support
Which will soon be available in all good bookshops, (actually it will be on the website soon)
From the introduction of the booklet.
………is for people with a disability and their supporters.
It tells the story of how people who receive disability supports can share what they know about self-directing their supports………
My takeaway after reading this booklet is, I like how it dissects the different shapes and sizes of peer support such as
- Having a chat in the car park
- Support Groups
- Individual Peer Coaches
- Online options, if you really think about it Facebook could possibly be seen as a form of peer support? Sort of
Put a note in your calendar to check out The Human Resources website early June to take a closer look yourself.
As the person who was helped in the law courts, not only did I appreciate the support but also felt empowerd.
I am glad I was able to help.
Good news – the Peer Support Guide is online now at http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/for-individuals/disability/self-directed-support/peer-support-guide.
Thanks for your post, John.
Good point here. I think individuals (particularly parents) are already using social networking – Twitter, Facebook in particular Facebook as a form of – ‘peer support’ the added functionality such as the ability to ‘ask questions’ to your audience on mediums such as FB helps in this regard. Also interestingly, the number of mothers who are creating their own page, which they use to ‘vent about the system’ ask questions to other mums out there ect. is definitely on the increase I am finding.