Authors (including presenting author) :
Yeung KB,
Affiliation :
Ho SW, Cheng PYI
Introduction :
Peer support service in department of psychiatry was introduced in 2016. Peer support workers are individuals who able to develop ways to tackle their mental illnesses; their valuable experiences are crucial in promoting recovery-oriented mental care. To further promote the peer support service and recovery in department, a newsletter “同心同行” was founded in 2017 and would be published each half-year. The peer support service newsletter provides knowledge and clinical practice of recovery orientated care in our department to the staff and patients. Each issue would have a concept of recovery elements as the main topic (e.g. hope). The content of the newsletter includes the views of multi-discipline staff towards peer support service and recovery, promoting recovery in department and provides a platform for peer support workers to share their recovery stories and their work.
Objectives :
1. To evaluate the quality and content of the newsletter after publishing 2 issues, 2. To evaluate the staff and patients’ views on peer support service newsletter and recovery in department
Methodology :
A questionnaire with eight items was attached in the second issue of the peer support service newsletter in August 2018. The target group was the staff in psychiatric department which included doctor, nurse, allied-health staff, supporting staff, in-patient and carer. The questionnaires were collected from August to October 2018 by hand or through internet.
Result & Outcome :
Total 684 questionnaires were delivered and 431 were received, the completion rate was 63%, (243 staff and 188 in-patients and their carers). 98% staff and 94% patients satisfied the newsletter layout design and contents. The most favourite content of the newsletter were interviewing doctor (28%) and the topic of issue (26%) for staff and patients respectively. Over 98% staff and over 93% patients strongly agreed / agreed the newsletter was able to enhance the understanding in peer support service and recovery in our department. Topic on sharing of experience from carer was suggested to include in future publications. Peer support service and recovery are complementary approaches in psychiatric department. It inspires professional staff to focus on patients’ strength and their achievements, rather than symptoms alone. The newsletter introduced a platform to provide updated information and regular communication between staff, patients and carers.
Co-location with:
