The Expansion of the Peer Adviser Workforce: Opportunities and Challenges for Social Work

ABSTRACT

Peer adviser roles are becoming an increasingly common—and celebrated—aspect of agencies where social workers are located. This article reports on a qualitative research study exploring the experiences of staff within a homelessness outreach service in which three peer advisers (people with a lived experience of homelessness) commenced employment. Drawing on action research principles, the study explored the experiences of the peer advisers and the broader team following the introduction of the peer adviser roles. Themes identified include, realising the skills of peer advisers, defining the role, taking a “whole of team” approach, and reflecting on power. This study demonstrates that the introduction of peer adviser roles into human service organisations is a promising strategy for creating services that are more likely to respond effectively to the needs of service users. However, social workers need to be aware of the pitfalls of tokenism and the devaluing of experiential knowledge.

IMPLICATIONS

• Peer advisers in health and welfare agencies add significant benefits to an agency’s capacity to respond to the needs of service users.

• The introduction of the peer workforce is aligned to social work values of service user empowerment and the valuing of experiential knowledge.

• In order to avoid tokenism, the introduction of peer adviser roles should be supported by both the attitudes and actions of other staff members, as well as organisational support structures.

同病顾问的角色作为社会工作者所在机构的一面，越来越通行并得到称许。本文为定性研究，探讨了一所无家者外展服务机构工作人员的经历，该机构雇佣了三位有无家经历的人做同病顾问。我们根据行动研究的原则，研究了这几位同病顾问的、以及他们进入后整个团队的经历。我们确定的主题包括：实现同病顾问的技能、界定角色、采取“全队”方式、思考权力。我们的研究表明，人道服务组织引入同病顾问是一个大有可为的办法，它可以让服务机构更符合服务使用者的需求。不过社会工作者也要警惕走形式和轻视经验知识。

KEYWORDS:

• Homelessness
• Social Work Practice
• Social Inclusion
• Qualitative Research
• Participation
• Mental Health

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Emma Tseris http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5704-4598

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by the agency.