A companion report to The Work Foundation’s review of research evidence on peer support in employment, this report identifies practice examples of peer support to help people with long term health conditions or disabilities to secure, retain or progress in employment. Based on a survey and interviews the report identified over 50 practice examples. The Practice Review discusses different approaches under the following headings: who is involved and benefiting; the purpose of the initiatives (recruitment, retention, progression, and wider outcomes); and the type of approach used (on-to-one, support groups, paid or unpaid). It then highlights the impact of the practice examples, including evidence on outcomes. Practice Review finds promising peer support practice in relation to securing, retaining and progressing in employment, for disabled people generally and for people living with specific impairments. It also found a high demand for peer support, and those involved in the report found peer support for employment offers hope, additional confidence and a sense of achievement. The report makes recommendations to support and strengthen the practice of peer support for disabled people or those with long-term conditions in terms of employment.
(Edited publisher abstract)
A companion report to The Work Foundation’s review of research evidence on peer support in employment, this report identifies practice examples of peer support to help people with long term health conditions or disabilities to secure, retain or progress in employment. Based on a survey and interviews the report identified over 50 practice examples. The Practice Review discusses different approaches under the following headings: who is involved and benefiting; the purpose of the initiatives (recruitment, retention, progression, and wider outcomes); and the type of approach used (on-to-one, support groups, paid or unpaid). It then highlights the impact of the practice examples, including evidence on outcomes. Practice Review finds promising peer support practice in relation to securing, retaining and progressing in employment, for disabled people generally and for people living with specific impairments. It also found a high demand for peer support, and those involved in the report found peer support for employment offers hope, additional confidence and a sense of achievement. The report makes recommendations to support and strengthen the practice of peer support for disabled people or those with long-term conditions in terms of employment.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
peer support, long term conditions, employment, case studies, disabilities, mental health problems, intervention;
Disability and Society, 18(5), August 2003, pp.625-642.
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
This article seeks to explore some key questions about effectiveness in anti-discrimination work: what do we know of what works to reduce discrimination faced by disabled people? It takes, as its key focus, current work to reduce discrimination experienced by people who use mental health services, in Britain and internationally. It also looks at initiatives in wider disability communities. It argues on the basis of available evidence that initiatives are most likely to succeed if they effectively challenge the power that underpins discrimination, aim to transform beliefs amongst those with the power to discriminate, intervene carefully in the different components of 'discrimination', drawing on evidence of effectiveness and work within a comprehensive framework for ongoing anti-discrimination work. This means targeting anti-discrimination work at different levels and different sectors, working with a range of different organisations and groups, rather than dispersing resources through ad hoc, one-off mini-initiatives. There is no single solution to discrimination, but different elements of potential 'solutions' exist. What is needed is to bring different strands of work together. In particular, it would be helpful to forge a stronger synthesis between, on the one hand, securing legislative improvement and enforcement, and on the other, promoting the universal benefits of a more inclusive society. Each complements the other.
This article seeks to explore some key questions about effectiveness in anti-discrimination work: what do we know of what works to reduce discrimination faced by disabled people? It takes, as its key focus, current work to reduce discrimination experienced by people who use mental health services, in Britain and internationally. It also looks at initiatives in wider disability communities. It argues on the basis of available evidence that initiatives are most likely to succeed if they effectively challenge the power that underpins discrimination, aim to transform beliefs amongst those with the power to discriminate, intervene carefully in the different components of 'discrimination', drawing on evidence of effectiveness and work within a comprehensive framework for ongoing anti-discrimination work. This means targeting anti-discrimination work at different levels and different sectors, working with a range of different organisations and groups, rather than dispersing resources through ad hoc, one-off mini-initiatives. There is no single solution to discrimination, but different elements of potential 'solutions' exist. What is needed is to bring different strands of work together. In particular, it would be helpful to forge a stronger synthesis between, on the one hand, securing legislative improvement and enforcement, and on the other, promoting the universal benefits of a more inclusive society. Each complements the other.