Women mental health consumers' perceptions of support workers

Abstract

In 2003 the Mental Health Support Work Advisory Group (MHSWAG) commissioned a qualitative evaluation of the National Certificate in Mental Health (Mental Health Support Work). This research is concerned with one aspect of that evaluation: the perspective of women mental health consumers. This research contributed to the evaluation by exploring women-mental health consumers' perceptions of support workers and the extent to which participants' descriptions indicate support workers a practicing a recovery approach. The sample was restricted to women mental health consumers of only two of the many services that employ mental health support workers: Residential Accommodation Services and Support in Community Services. The sample was restricted to enhance the participation of women in a qualitative evaluation design using focus groups for data collection. Seventeen women participated. Four dimensions of personal support were described by participants. These were supporting participants in their own environment; relating to participants as women; assisting with a broad range of needs and activities; and balancing support needs with promoting independence. Support workers practiced a recovery approach when they: assisted participants to live as independently as possible; related well to participants on a personal level; were inclusive of family when this was what participants wanted; participants had a say in determining the type of assistance they received; support workers attended to some social barriers; and encouraged participants to become more autonomous. Support workers could undermine their recovery approach when relationship and role boundaries became unclear; when they did not take into consideration participants' wider social context of friends and children; support workers put pressure on them to do things they were uncomfortable with; and failed to adequately take into consideration the effects of mental illness, medication and physical problems on their ability to act independently.