In the participating countries, the peer supporters are in the following situation: In the past few years, the use of peer supporters in psycho-social care has become a common practice in many European countries. The specific role played by the peer supporter, however, varies in the individual countries and reflects different steps in the development of this function. In spite of these differences, one principle is based on all: the function of the recovery companion is always based on the concept of recovery support - "expert by experience". Recovery affects all areas of life, such as social commitment, housing, income, physical health, well-being, sexuality etc. Recovery is a complex process and requires a methodological approach. It is important that recovery support is offered by qualified professionals. Peer support work is evolving into a new profession and the successes we see are so promising that recovery in the near future will always be more than a therapeutic principle in the EU countries. Recovery and peer support work seamlessly integrate into the current EU policy, which promotes the transition to "Community Based Mental Health". Many psychiatric and therapeutic institutions throughout the EU are taking peer supporters into their teams. There could be even more - even permanent - employment if the institutions had standardized job descriptions, access requirements, and competency profiles of the peer supporter. The aim of the project is therefore to create Europe-wide working standards for the work of the peer workers: job description, entry requirements, competence profile and placement in the company and therapy team. These standards will form the basis for qualification modules in education and training for the recovery companion in psychosocial work. Subgoals are: a) Description of the tasks of the peer workers in the company and team. b) Evaluation of the different experiences and development statuses in the work of the peer workers of the participating countries in order to develop a qualification profile for all in the form of a competence matrix. c) Standardization and recognition of the comparable competences of the recovery companions from the participating countries. d) Development of a guideline for companies and therapeutic teams on the topic of the placement of the recovery companion. e) Creation of a qualification module for managers of psychiatric and psychosocial work institutions on employment opportunities for convalescent assistants. f) Improvement of the employment opportunities of existing or prospective health-care workers throughout Europe. In addition, the target group of managers and team leaders of the psychosocial institutions will benefit from the project, for which in addition to the description of the competence profiles a guide to the position of the recovery companion in the company and a qualification module for this emerge. Participating countries and institutions are: a) Germany (Grone GeSo) b) Netherlands with the organizations Coordan and GGZ c) Poland (CEDU) d) Greece (Etairia) e) Norway (Sørlandet sykehus HF Clinic for psykisk helse) Direct target group: * Already active/prospective peer workers Indirect target groups: a) Patients of psychiatry on the mend of recovery b) Institutions of psychiatric and psycho-social work c) Social welfare institutions d) Head of psycho-social institutions e) Teams of psycho-social institutions f) Associations from the field of psychiatry, psycho-social work g) Insurance carrier h) Political decision-makers. The innovative character of this project is the result of the topic area and the target group. The development of Europe-wide working standards for the peer workers, their competency profile as well as the description of their place in the organization and team should create transparency in the activity of the direct target group. The developed products support to a high degree of inclusion in the participating countries. The uniform standards, adapted to the circumstances of the participating countries, create transparency for the work of the peer workers, and enable comparability and recognition of the existing competencies relevant to this function.
The aim of the project was therefore to create Europe-wide working standards for the work of the peer workers: job description, entry requirements, competence profile and the position in the company and therapist team. These standards would form the basis for qualification modules in education and training for the recovery companion in psychosocial work. Sub goals were: a) Description of the tasks of the peer workers in the company and team. b) Evaluation of the different experiences and development statuses in the work of the peer workers of the participating countries in order to develop a qualification profile for all in the form of a competence matrix. c) Standardization and recognition of the comparable competences of the recovery companions from the participating countries. d) Development of a guideline for companies and therapist teams on the topic of the position of peer support workers within their teams. e) Creation of a qualification module for managers of psychiatric and psychosocial work institutions on employment opportunities for peer support workers. f) Improvement of the employment opportunities of existing or prospective health-care workers throughout Europe.
In the participating countries, the peer supporters are in the following situation: In the past few years, the use of peer supporters in psycho-social care has become a common practice in many European countries. However, the specific role of the peer supporter varied in the individual countries and reflected different steps in the development of this function. In spite of these differences, all steps were based on the same principle: the function of the peer supporter is always based on the concept of recovery support - "expert by experience". Recovery affects all areas of life, such as social commitment, housing, income, physical health, well-being, sexuality etc. Recovery is a complex process and required a methodological approach. It was important that recovery support is offered by qualified professionals. Peer support work was evolving into a new profession and the successes we saw, were so promising that recovery in the near future should always be viewed more as a therapeutic principle in the EU countries. Recovery and peer support work seamlessly integrated into the current EU policy, which promoted the transition to "Community Based Mental Health".