— Case studies / Research

Design: A qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews was conducted in a psychiatry teaching unit in the East Midlands, UK. A purposive sample of 20 EPs involved in teaching was interviewed about the social and psychological impacts of involvement. Transcripts were analysed thematically and a coding scheme was developed.

Results: Five themes were identified: shaping the doctors of the future-something worthwhile, challenging assumptions about mental health, recovery and transformation, vulnerability and support and expertise and power.

Conclusion: These EPs benefitted from their experience of teaching. Involvement in psychiatry teaching may require putting oneself in a vulnerable position, but a supportive and open faculty team may mitigate this challenge. The Expert Patient Programme was seen as a way of helping to reduce the power difference between patients and doctors in the future. There is a need to examine the language that we use to talk about patient involvement as this may have implications for this power dynamic. The context and mechanisms that lead to the benefits described by participants should be studied so that these benefits may be generalized to other contexts.

Patient contribution: An EP was involved in the planning and ethical approval application process of the project and the drafting and approval of this manuscript.

A sector-wide survey was conducted across the mental health sector within an Australian state. A whole-workforce approach was taken by seeking perspectives from employees in both LE roles and traditional roles. Complete responses were obtained from 327 participants (116 in LE roles and 211 in traditional roles). Results showed that across the entire workforce, top leader commitment to LE roles led to more clarity about LE roles, resulting in improved individual outcomes of authentic self-expression, and organizational outcomes of service delivery. LE role clarity was particularly important in organizational contexts where social integration of LE roles was low. Our study puts lived experience at the forefront of HRM scholarly debate, highlighting how employing LE roles can achieve better performance, diversity and inclusion outcomes especially for those with mental health challenges, and support the development of more healthy and inclusive organizations.

The aim of the present study was to develop a conceptual framework representing the driving forces of peer workers to fulfil their position in mental health-care systems. A qualitative interview approach was employed using principles of grounded theory. Over a period of 5 months in 2014–2015, semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 peer workers in residential and community mental health-care systems. The emerged conceptual framework reveals that peer workers strive towards constructing a positive identity. This process is powered by driving forces reflecting a desire for normalization and an urge for self-preservation. Peer workers realize a meaningful employment by using their lived experience perspective as an asset, liberating themselves out of restrictive role patterns, and by breaking down stigma and taboo. As a precondition to engage in these normalization processes, peer workers perceive they need to secure their self-preservation by balancing the emergence of adverse emotional fluctuations. The conceptual framework can inform the development of work contexts in which peer workers have an authentic and meaningful contribution, while being offered sufficient support and learning opportunities to manage their well-being.

A total of 77 interviews were transcribed and thematic analyses were conducted across the participant groups at three different time points (training, work placements, and employment). During the initial implementation of the services, uncertainty about the role of the PSWs were reported. However, trusting and beneficial relationships with service users were gradually built, showing growing resilience and confidence over time. The participants realized that PSWs’ experiences of mental illnesses were a unique asset that could help service users to alleviate their own somatic symptoms and improve their connections with others. Our findings highlight that the perceptions of peer support services changed from confusion to viewing PSWs as an asset, to an awareness of the importance of family support, and to the belief that implementing such a program will benefit both service users and PSWs.