Louise Byrne

RMIT University | RMIT · School of Management

Topic: Common challenges and experiences of the lived experience/peer workforce globally are considered, with an emphasis on ensuring that future developments both protect and promote the unique lived experience perspective. Purpose: In the Western world, rapid growth in lived experience roles has led to an urgent need for training and workforce...

The peer workforce has increased significantly in recent years; however, structured development and support for the roles are lacking. This paper explores the role of executive and senior management understanding in the employment of peer roles. In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews and one focus group were conducted with 29 participants from a rang...

The presence of peer workers in multi-disciplinary environments has rapidly increased in recent years, yet the impact of peer work on other mental health roles is largely unknown. This article explores the presence of peer workers within multi-disciplinary environments, with a specific focus on the possible impact of this presence on the culture of...

This study sought a clearer understanding of organizational mechanisms reinforcing effective peer employment and organizational change from the perspectives of peer workers, non-peer staff and management in multidisciplinary mental health and substance use recovery services. Findings were used to develop a model for organizational best practice for...

Objective: Peer workers are widely employed across the mental health sector in Australia, and these positions increasingly include people with experience as a service user (consumer peer workers) and people with experience as a family member (caregiver peer workers). The authors explored similarities and differences between the consumer and caregi...

Over the past three decades, “lived experience” designated roles in mental health services in Australia have increased. However, the lived experience of staff in roles not designated in this way is often hidden or unacknowledged. This qualitative study included 33 participants employed in a range of roles at two Victorian mental health services, in...

This report describes the findings of doctoral research conducted at two Australian mental health services. Interviews explored perspectives and experience of staff relating to the sharing of lived experience by mental health professionals in the workplace. Document analysis provided organisational context to the findings.

This paper describes the findings of interviews conducted with staff at two Australian mental health services exploring their perspectives and experiences in relation to the sharing of lived experience with colleagues and supervisors.

Workers with a disability are under-represented in the workforce and, those with lived experiences of mental health are often under-supported by organisations, managers and colleagues. This chapter argues that disability and mental health are an increasingly important aspect for Human Resource Management (HRM)departments and managers to consider as...

This is a supplementary document that provides contents, pages numbers and summaries of key sections to help navigate the National Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce Development Guidelines.

Employees’ mental health issues present significant challenges for organizations globally. Despite various human resource management (HRM) interventions, systemic stigmatization of people with mental health challenges endures. We propose drawing on an innovative HRM practice in the mental health sector, by introducing designated lived experience (L...

Personal experience with mental health (MH) challenges has been characterized as a concealable stigma. Identity management literature suggests actively concealing a stigma may negatively impact wellbeing. Reviews of workplace identity management literature have linked safety in revealing a stigma to individual performance, well-being, engagement an...

We aimed to develop a telehealth peer support program for isolated dementia caregivers. This paper reports the co-design process by telehealth and the impact and experiences of participants. The Double Diamond model guided the co-design process, which has four phases, with participants reflecting on their caregiving experiences. Group meetings were...

A thriving mental health Lived Experience (Peer) workforce is a vital component of “quality, recovery-focused mental health services”. This principle is embedded in the mental health plans and policies that influence all mental health care services in Australia. To achieve the benefits of engaging a Lived Experience workforce, the workforce needs t...

This document is structured to provide a brief overview of the collective Lived Experience workforce and Lived Experience work, followed by the essentials of position descriptions that authentically represent Lived Experience practice. A detailed guide to Lived Experience roles and position description development is provided, along with examples a...

Mental health presentations to the emergency department (ED) have increased, and the emergency department has become the initial contact point for people in a mental health crisis. However, there is mounting evidence that the ED is not appropriate nor effective in responding to people in mental health crises. Insufficient attention has been paid to...

Objective This study explored the benefits and limitations of employing peer support workers, who utilise their own lived experience of mental distress and recovery, to support people experiencing mental distress who are attending the ED. Methods This co-produced qualitative study utilised four phases: (i) assemble a collaborative multi-disciplina...

The lived experience workforce has moved from being a grassroots support and activist movement to become the fastest growing workforce within mental health. As lived experience work becomes assimilated within mainstream mental health service delivery, it faces mounting pressure to become more professionalized. Professionalization has evoked both op...

Two lived experience mental health researchers explore key issues faced within their roles, with reference to contemporary research. As lived experience researchers, the authors identify with and are employed specifically to work from the perspective of a lived experience of mental health diagnosis/service use and periods of healing. Together, they...

In recent years, investment in participatory research methods within mental health services research has grown. Participatory efforts are often limited in scope, however, and attention to research leadership is largely absent from discourse about stakeholder involvement in the United States. This Open Forum calls for investment in building a pipeli...

Objective: Research has suggested that some mental health professionals (MHPs) continue to hold stigmatized beliefs about persons with emotional distress. These beliefs may be amenable to contact-based interventions with similar peers. To inform future interventions, policy, and research, this scoping review examined existing literature to identify...

Objective The aim of this study was to explore management understanding of the lived experience required for designated lived experience or peer roles within mental health.Method This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews and one focus group with 29 participants employed in diverse management roles from the public and not-for-profit hea...

The unpredictability and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic; the associated lockdowns, physical distancing, and other containment strategies; and the resulting economic breakdown could increase the risk of mental health problems and exacerbate health inequalities. Preliminary findings suggest adverse mental health effects in previously healthy pe...

Participant outcomes from being part of a co-design process to develop a dementia carers support program delivered by telehealth

This paper describes the findings of a scoping review into the factors that enable and constrain mental health professionals sharing their personal lived experience of mental health challenges with colleagues and supervisors.

The Queensland Framework for the Development of the Mental Health Lived Experience (peer) Workforce is a useful advocacy tool for individuals and organizations interested in effective peer/lived experience workforce development. The framework and associated resources are intended: • to increase understanding of lived experience value and functions...

This is a Summary of the Queensland Framework for the Development of the Mental Health Lived Experience (peer) Workforce. Purpose of the framework: The framework and associated resources are intended: • to increase understanding of lived experience value and functions and provide clear information for organisations on how to structure and support...

This poster is a supplementary document to the Queensland Framework for Lived Experience (peer) workforce development. This A3 poster can be used as a handy reference in the workplace.

This is a companion document to the 'Queensland Framework for Lived Experience (peer) workforce development'. The 'role titles and descriptions' document can be used with the Framework to assist organizations in developing appropriate peer roles across a range of settings and at different levels within the organization (including senior or manageme...

Mental health peer work is attracting growing interest and provides a potentially impactful method of service user involvement in mental health design and delivery, contributing to mental health reform. The need to effectively support this emerging workforce is consequently increasing. This study aimed to better understand the views of management i...

In Western nations, the Recovery approach has become a widely accepted philosophy and treatment concept in mental health. Yet, community understanding of the Recovery approach remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to investigate (i) people's awareness of the principles underpinning the Recovery approach in mental health, and (ii) the treatme...

In rural Australia, knowledge and utilisation of support by informal carers is lacking. During the caregiving period, socioemotional support from family and friends plays an important role in sustaining caregiving activities. Post-care, these social networks facilitate adjustment to role change and dealing with grief. Developing and improving acces...

The lived experience workforce in Australia includes peer support workers; consumer consultants; consumer companions; experts by experience and various lived experience roles in education, training, policy design and systemic advocacy. This emergent and increasingly impactful section of the mental health workforce is growing rapidly, however expans...

Provides a succinct summary of the findings and recommendations of the following report: The lived experience workforce in Australia includes peer support workers; consumer consultants; consumer companions; experts by experience and various lived experience roles in education, training, policy design and systemic advocacy. This emergent and increas...

First person narratives drawing on experiences in mental health settings and services provide important insights into the lived experience of suffering, healing and recovery. An emerging and influential role within mental health services is that of the lived experience worker. People employed in ‘lived experience’ roles, have powerful stories to sh...

Developed for the Qld Mental Health Commission as an introduction to Lived Experience perspective, providing; • background to the lived experience or ‘consumer’ movement in the mental health sector • an overview of some of the benefits of lived experience participation • information on the existing and future scope of lived experience participation...

Background: Lived experience practitioners can contribute to improved outcomes for people with mental illness, supplementing traditional mental health services and reducing health care costs. However, lived experience practitioners frequently face stigma and discrimination within their work roles. Aim: To understand the impact of stigma and discrim...

Mental health policy includes a clear expectation that consumers will participate in all aspects of the design and delivery of mental health services. This edict has led to employment roles for people with lived experience of significant mental health challenges and service use. Despite the proliferation of these roles, research into factors impact...

Purpose: The aim of this article was to present views and opinions of people employed to work from their personal experience of significant mental health challenges (peer workers). The specific focus was on their capacity to contribute meaningfully to mental health service provision and in rural areas and associated barriers. Design and methods:...

Recovery is government mandated and a core facet of mental health reform. However, Recovery implementation in this country (Australia) has been inhibited by a lack of education of, and understanding from, clinicians. A grounded theory study was undertaken to explore the potential and existing role of lived experience practitioners in assisting mean...

Background: Australian mental health policy requires that mental health services facilitate meaningful and genuine consumer participation in all aspects of mental health services. Roles for practitioners who work from their own experience of significant mental health challenges and mental health service use have been implemented in many services to...

Recovery-oriented services are a goal for policy and practice in the Australian mental health service system. Evidence-based reform requires an instrument to measure knowledge of recovery concepts. The Recovery Knowledge Inventory (RKI) was designed for this purpose, however, its suitability and validity for student health professionals has not bee...

A 4 page, plain English summary of the PhD thesis 'A grounded theory study of lived experience mental health practitioners within the wider workforce' with recommendations included.

For contemporary mental health policy to realise its commitment to enhance consumer participation and to promote the establishment of progressive mental health service delivery, progressing robust and effective roles for people with a lived experience of significant mental health challenges is essential. However, the emergent lived experience workf...

Consumers of mental health services have an important role to play in the higher education of nursing students, by facilitating understanding of the experience of mental illness and instilling a culture of consumer participation. Yet the level of consumer participation in mental health nursing programmes in Australia is not known. The aim of the pr...

The prevalence and consequences of mental health challenges amongst university students is now widely acknowledged and university staff provide an important but often hidden service to these students. While completing a university degree is important to the student’s long-term outcomes there remains a paucity of literature on the support role provi...

Gaining experience in clinical mental health settings is central to the education of health practitioners. To facilitate the ongoing development of knowledge and practice in this area, we performed a review of the literature on clinical placements in mental health settings. Searches in Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO database...

Australian mental health policy clearly articulates recovery focus as the underpinning of mental health services. Barriers to achieving a recovery focus are identified in the literature, with negative attitudes of health professionals receiving particular attention. The involvement of people with lived experience of significant mental health challe...

A descriptive study was used to examine the attitudes and experiences of staff and students towards mental health problems. Staff completed the "Attitude towards mental illness survey", and students who self-identified having a mental health problem completed the "Stigma scale". Using an online collection process, data from 270 staff and 201 studen...

Mental health policy emphasises the importance of consumer participation in mental health services. To align education with policy and orient future healthcare services to active consumer involvement, the potential of academics with a lived experience of mental illness to impact on student attitudes towards consumer participation needs to be examin...

Mental health nursing consistently emerges as less popular than other specialties, and both service users and mental health practitioners are affected by negative attitudes. Education is fundamental to attracting students to the field of mental health nursing. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of undergraduate mental health curricul...

Objective: Non-government organisations make a substantial contribution to the provision of mental health services; despite this, there has been little research and evaluation targeted at understanding the role played by these services within the community mental health sector. The aim of the present study was to examine the depth and breadth of s...

The aims of this article were to evaluate the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire, and measure nursing students' attitudes to consumer participation. Undergraduate nursing students (n = 116) completed the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire at the start of a course on recovery for mental health nursing practice. The cu...

Report for Clinician Training Innovation Project

The article profiles Louise Byrne, a lecturer and course coordinator for Central Queensland University's undergraduate and postgraduate "Recovery Approach in Mental Health" courses. Innovations in mental health nursing education which have been seen at Central Queensland University and its Centre for Mental Health Nursing Innovation are discussed.

Mental health nursing is not regarded favourably by most Bachelor of Nursing (BN) students as a desirable career option. However, little is known about what attracts those students who do become interested. The primary aim of the current study was to explore BN students' reasons for choosing to undertake the major in mental health nursing and the d...

A systematic review of the published work on consumer involvement in the education of health professionals was undertaken using the PRISMA guidelines. Searches of the CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PsychINFO electronic databases returned 487 records, and 20 met the inclusion criteria. Further papers were obtained through scanning the reference lists of those...

The educational preparation of registered nurses is presumed to reflect a holistic approach with emphasis on the bio-psycho-social model of care. The broader literature suggests this goal is not always realised. The aim of this study is to present the views, experiences, and perceptions of undergraduate nursing students who were taught by an academ...

Mental health policy in Australia is committed to the development of recovery-focused services and facilitating consumer participation in all aspects of mental health service delivery. Negative attitudes of mental health professionals have been identified as a major barrier to achieving these goals. Although the education of health professionals ha...