Local facilities

As a facilitator, it will be of great benefit if you are aware of what’s on in your local area. That way, if a peer is struggling with a particular aspect of self-management, or peer support in general, you will be able to suggest groups that they can join/service they can use. The types of group/service that may help are:

  • Exercise classes for different levels of fitness and ability, from walking clubs to gyms
  • Education classes such as ‘Skills for Life‘ classes
  • Low cost transport options such as ‘Dial-a-Ride‘ to help peers get to sessions
  • Arts/crafts groups to keep the kind active

We suggest using the internet and local media to find out some things that are going on so you are ready to suggest these to your peers if you think they could benefit.

Integration with other services

We have learnt that it is useful to try to coordinate peer support with other programmes and support groups are running your local practice or area. This is so that the groups can work with rather than against each other, and people know what other groups are running and how relevant they are to them. It is worth checking whether your local practice runs any support or education programmes, or whether there are support groups or classes (e.g. exercise, meditation, mindfullness etc.) in your area so that you can inform peers about them and think about how a peer support group would link in with them.

Task
Find out what other groups or classes operate in your local area and think about how you might integrate with them. The internet or your local surgery might be able to help with this.