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This study aimed to explore, from peer workers' perspectives, the supports and strategies they use to optimise their wellbeing and effectiveness in their roles. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with nine peer workers from a community managed organisation in New South Wales, Australia in 2022. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Peer workers described four types of personal strategies: looking after myself; increasing my peer-related skills; recognising and using my skills; and advocating for and promoting peer work. They described five types of organisational support that helped them to use these strategies and influenced their wellbeing and performance: professional development opportunities; a mental health friendly environment; place of peer work in the organisation; team dynamics and support; and logistical support. This research can help stakeholders recognise the strategies and supports that are beneficial to peer workers and facilitate understanding and support between mental health staff. While a small, contextualised study, it could provide strategies for peer workers new to the industry and for organisations seeking to ensure the sustainability of their peer workforce and the quality of services supplied to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this article is to explore the lived experience of having a child removed by child protection services for mothers living with mental illness. Method: This phenomenological study collected data from eight mothers through in-depth interviews. Data were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Results: The overall phenomenon of living with child removal was found to consist of four overarching essential components: chaotic lives pre-removal; pain and loss; protecting myself; and constrained mothering. Discussion: Mothers need support to manage the suffering associated with child removal in the context of already chaotic lives. Parenting and mental health services are in a position to assist mothers to develop adaptive coping strategies and minimise maladaptive strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify aspects of the consumer-provider relationship that consumers saw as important in a care coordination service model. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted, between October 2015 and March 2016, with 20 people living with severe and persistent mental illness who used a care coordination service in Sydney, Australia. Data were analysed using constant comparative analysis. Results: Participants described five specific aspects of the consumer-provider relationship that they deemed important within their care coordination service experience: rapport and listening; an individualised approach; collaboration and partnership; reliability; and genuine care and respect. These were not independent, but rather, interdependent elements that collectively described a ‘good’ consumer-provider relationship. Discussion: While previous literature has examined the consumer-provider relationship in high-intensity and therapeutic models of service, this study confirms that similar relationship features are important in low-intensity or brokerage type models. Aspects such as the provider being easy to talk to and reliable appear to be of additional importance in this particular model. Findings suggest that the ability to develop trusting and collaborative relationships within a short timeframe is a critical consideration for recruitment and training of service providers working within care coordination models of service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:The aim of this study was to understand the strategies women living with mental illness use to balance the demands of mothering with mental health recovery. Method:Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 Australian women who self-identified as managing to balance mothering with mental health recovery. The data were analysed using constant comparative analysis, and other techniques informed from grounded theory. Results:Mothers used four interconnected balancing strategies: prioritising in the present; looking after myself; buffering children; and using supports. Awareness of the crucial interconnectedness of mothering and recovery was the foundation for these balancing strategies. Developing this awareness was essential in order to value, develop and therefore implement these strategies. Supports and resources played a critical role in helping mothers to develop awareness of, as well as use, strategies to balance motherhood and mental health recovery. Discussion:Mental health services can support mothers to develop an understanding of the inextricable connection between their own recovery needs and the needs of their child. Mothers can also be supported to successfully identify and employ their own strategies within each of the four categories developed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents of young people with mental illness use a variety of strategies to try to positively influence young people's mental health-related behaviours. Evidence suggests that these parents can influence young people's well-being and mental health trajectories. However little is known about how young people perceive and are affected by the strategies parents use. In-depth qualitative interviews focussing on parental involvement in mental health were conducted with 26 young people with mental illness. The data were analysed using constant comparative analysis. Young people described parents as directly influencing their mental health-related behaviour through facilitative, persuasive and controlling practices. Young people's behavioural and emotional responses to these practices were influenced by when the incident occurred; what they believed about the attitudes and motives behind their parents' actions; whether they agreed in principle with the practices; the degree to which they accepted their parents' authority and anticipated their own increasing autonomy; and whether other support was provided alongside the behavioural practices. Understanding how young people view their parents' influence on their mental health-related behaviour under different circumstances is a vital step towards promoting the best possible parental support for these young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]