Peer Support Services i. Peer Support Services are delivered by peers to improve an individual's community living skills, including their ability to cope with and manage symptoms and to develop and utilize existing community supports. Peer support services may be provided by face-to-face or telephone contact and include outreach, wellness training, and training in self-advocacy.
Peer Support Services. These include services to validate individuals' experiences and to inform, guide and encourage individuals to take responsibility for and actively participate in their own recovery, as well as services to help individuals identify, understand, and combat stigma and discrimination against mental illness and develop strategies to reduce individuals’ self-imposed stigma. Peer Support and Wellness Recovery Services include:
Peer Support Services. 79. LDH shall ensure certified Peer Support Specialists will continue to be incorporated into its rehabilitation services, CPST, PSR, CI, ACT, Crisis Services, Residential Supports, Integrated Day, SUD Recovery, and Supported Employment systems. Peer support services will be provided with the frequency necessary to meet the needs and goals of the individual’s person-centered plan. LDH shall ensure peer support services are available to all individuals with SMI transitioning from nursing facilities, both prior to and after transition to the community.
Peer Support Services. The scope of the Peer is to provide Substance Abuse Assistance services which includes peer to peer service and relapse prevention. Peer support services will be provided within the context of the client plan that includes specific goals with associated interventions specific to peer support services. The amount, duration, and scope of the services shall be specified in the client’s plan. The scope of the peer support services will be outlined in each applicable intervention. Peer support services will vary based on client input, client preference, and the scope of treatment plan goals. When appropriate, peer support staff will be integrated into the treatment planning process to provide support and advocate for the client’s desires to be the focus of the client plan. Peer support staff will assist the client with communicating their needs and desires to the LPHA/Counselor. They may also provide information about community resources and activities to support client recovery. Peer support staff will have the opportunity to share their lived experience for the purpose of empowering the client to better understand the uniqueness of the recovery process. All Recovery Services shall indicate on the client plan how peer-to-peer services will be used to support relapse prevention and the overall recovery process.
Peer Support Services. Another intervention that may be effective in addressing the shortage of mental health professionals in Rapides Parish and central Louisiana is peer support services. MHA has taken the position that peer support is an essential element of successful communities that effectively address mental and behavioral health issues (MHA, 2016). SAMSHA has identified peer support services as a vital component in recovery (MHA, 2016). Peer-run services are based on the principle that individuals who have shared similar experiences can help themselves and each other (MHA, 2016). Such programs provide an opportunity for communities of consumers who have significantly recovered from their illnesses to help others direct their own recoveries by teaching one another the skills necessary to lead meaningful lives in the community (MHA, 2016). Peer support programs have demonstrated effective outcomes such as reduced isolation and increased empathic responses (MHA, 2016). Research has shown that outcomes improve when consumers serve as peer specialists on case management teams. Peer support services present six advantages over traditional mental health and substance abuse services: • A sense of gratitude that is manifested in compassion and commitment • Insight into the experience of internalized stigma • Peer specialists take away the ‘you don’t know what it’s like excuse’ • Peer specialists have had the experience of moving from hopelessness to helplessness • They are in a unique relationship of developing a relationship of hope with their peers • They have developed the ability to manage their own mental and behavioral health illness holistically (MHA, 2016). Medicaid is increasingly being viewed as a mechanism to fund peer support specialists along with clinical services for the more traditionally underserved. In order to receive reimbursement and to insure quality care for peer services there may be a certification process (MHA, 2016). The state of Georgia became one of the first states to pioneer the use of certified peer specialists in order to provide services to persons with serious and persistent disorders and made these services eligible for Medicaid funding (Xxxxx & Xxxxxxx, 2003). Training and support for individuals that meet the criteria for peer specialists could be one way to address the health care provider shortage in Rapides Parish and an opportunity for individuals in mental health crisis to find someone to help them maneuver through the complex mental hea...
