Work alongside other professionals in hospital, justice and community settings.
This occupation is found in a range of services that embed peer-led roles within third sector, community, social enterprise and statutory sectors, including the NHS, health, justice, housing, and private providers of specialist services. Peer support has a long history in social justice, human rights and community action. The occupation is unique in that it is only open to those who have expertise through lived experience.
Peer Workers support individuals across all age groups who may be experiencing:
The broad purpose of this occupation is to work alongside other professionals in hospital, justice and community settings, providing peer support for individuals using knowledge gained from their own lived experience of health or social problems and/or using services.
Peer support is founded on a non-coercive, human rights-based approach that focuses on building relationships. Working within clearly agreed boundaries, Peer Workers purposefully share their own experiences, and through the mutual sharing and commonality of experience, they can embody hopefulness. They maintain equality with, and work alongside, others facing similar experiences and challenges in their health and wellbeing. Their work is underpinned by mutuality and reciprocity, widely recognised as core principles of peer support, with the central focus being on building trusting relationships rather than intervention.
As an autonomous member of the multi-professional team, the Peer Worker works with individuals through 1-to-1, group-based, drop-in and online/remote contact, focusing on building relationships and opportunities to learn together. They draw on their own lived experience as the foundation for supporting individuals to move towards user-led goals.
Peer Workers support individuals to build skills through modelling, signposting, and self-advocacy. They work directly with individuals, enabling them to find their own ways of understanding their circumstances in order to move forward. Creating a safe and trusting space provides for an honest and open dialogue in which different experiences can be shared and different ways of understanding can be considered. Using knowledge from their own lived experiences of challenges, accessing support and navigating a range of services, a Peer Worker can provide purposeful and safe disclosure of their personal experiences to share and model self-help and self-management skills.
They work as part of a team to provide peer support in combination with the individuals’ service-led care and support plans. They complement, as well as provide alternatives to a wider package of care and support involving multiple agencies. They will report to the Team Manager/Care Co-ordinator and will have access to both line management and peer supervision that can be in either a 1-to-1 or group setting. Peer supervision opportunities are used by the Peer Worker to reflect on, evaluate and develop the way they work. Examples of peer supervision conversations include discussing issues of mutuality and equality, ethical dilemmas and when to challenge practices that exert power and control and restrict the choice of individuals.
They provide intentional peer support within the context of empowerment, choice, self-determination, and self-managed care. They support individuals and carers to gain an increased sense of control within their own unique circumstances and connection to local communities. They also facilitate mutually-negotiated practical assistance, promoting the individual’s awareness of social networks, activities, groups or other opportunities in which they have expressed an interest, and how these can be accessed.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with the wider team working alongside other professionals and has direct contact with individuals as well as their families and carers. As members of multi-professional teams, their key relationships may include:
Peer Workers may also interact with:
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for delivery of peer-based approaches as agreed with individuals and groups within the peer relationship. Peer Workers use intentional, experiential sharing to support individuals to identify and work toward self-defined goals. In their interactions, they draw on their lived experience of overcoming challenges and accessing resources, whilst being mindful of applying peer-based approaches when sharing those experiences, e.g. underpinning conversations with a trauma-informed approach. Through the peer relationship and principles of co-production, the individual and Peer Worker will co-develop and work towards self-defined goals. The Peer Worker supports individuals through significant changes in their life circumstances and facilitates access to different sources of support to build or re-establish trust and relationships with services.
They will collate information on available services with the individuals they are supporting, such as housing, benefit entitlements and wider community resources. Using effective communication, Peer Workers support individuals to understand their rights and choices so they are in a better position to self-advocate.
They challenge risk-averse workplace culture and encourage positive risk taking when supporting individuals to move towards self-defined goals. Peer Workers take an active role in promoting and modelling peer values within the service setting they work in, for example promoting a strengths-based approach or co-production. They aim to improve the organisational understanding of lived experience which can lead to wider discussions within the service setting they work in around systems change and improving staff well-being. They can be actively involved in service improvement initiatives, contributing ideas to the multi-professional team or other relevant staff committees to encourage commitment to a personal recovery and wellbeing-orientated culture. They also support training and development activity, which can include awareness training for staff around the role of Peer Workers and wellbeing training.
Peer Workers embody the values of peer support and use peer-based approaches in all their work-related interactions. By safely sharing their lived experiences, they can help to positively challenge stereotypes that co-workers and partner agencies may have toward, for example, mental health or substance misuse. Issues they may challenge in these situations include the stigma that can surround individuals with mental health experiences, low expectations (e.g. of workplace capability), and discriminatory practices against such individuals.
Peer Workers recognise the importance of self-care. They maintain accurate records of their work as required. Where appropriate, records will be co-produced with the individual they are supporting. They are also responsible for ensuring that resources are managed effectively. They may work shifts including unsocial hours and weekends.
There are no formal entry requirements but apprentices must have lived experience relevant to the role.
| Duty | KSBs |
|---|---|
|
Duty 1 Establish safe, supportive and respectful relationships with individuals, carers and families |
|
|
Duty 2 Safely discloses personal experiences with individuals and models self-help and self-management skills |
|
|
Duty 3 Use co-production and lived experience to support individuals and groups to identify and work toward their self-defined goals |
K16 K17 K18 K19 K20 K21 K22 K23 K24 |
|
Duty 4 Empower individuals to self-advocate and understand their rights and choices |
|
|
Duty 5 Identify, facilitate access to or signpost resources within the service and communities that promote choice, informed decision making and are aligned to personal goals |
|
|
Duty 6 Represent and promote peer support within development activities and service development |
|
|
Duty 7 Work as part of the team and contribute to service improvement |
|
|
Duty 8 Maintain their peer perspective by using personal development and supervision to reflect on the role |
|
|
Duty 9 Maintain the safety of themselves and others and encourage positive risk taking putting the best interests, needs and preferences of the individual first |
|
|
Duty 10 Communicates effectively with individuals, colleagues, and other services in the context of peer support and provides feedback to individuals |
K1: The core values and principles of peer support
Back to Duty
K2: Legislation related to equality, diversity & inclusion
Back to Duty
K3: The way unconscious bias can affect peer relationships
Back to Duty
K4: The importance of establishing and adhering to the boundaries of the peer relationship
Back to Duty
K5: Empowerment and its role in peer support
Back to Duty
K6: How health and socio-economic inequalities can influence the individual’s experience and needs
Back to Duty
K7: The rights of carers and the organisation’s families and carer strategy/carer engagement protocol
Back to Duty
K8: How to manage and prepare for the ending of the peer relationship
Back to Duty
K9: The significance of culture and identity and how this can influence the individual’s experience and needs
Back to Duty
K10: Ethical dilemmas that may arise within the peer relationship
Back to Duty
K11: The history and value of the peer support movement and its relationship to systems, inequalities, power and civil rights
Back to Duty
K12: The purpose of sharing lived experience, and how much to share in a relevant way
Back to Duty
K13: Self-help and self-management approaches that can be used by individuals being supported
Back to Duty
K14: How to support individuals to develop self-help and self-management approaches through modelling
Back to Duty
K15: Problem solving skills that can be used by individual’s being supported
Back to Duty
K16: The principles of involvement and co-production within own scope of practice
Back to Duty
K17: Goal setting and how to support individuals to establish self-defined goals using co-production
Back to Duty
K18: Care planning, the individual’s current care and support needs and where to find that information
Back to Duty
K19: How to apply trauma informed approaches in own work
Back to Duty
K20: Where to find information on care and support options available and what they provide within their organisation and the local community
Back to Duty
K21: The importance and value of building links with local community organisations as sources of support
Back to Duty
K22: The differences between guidance, advice and information
Back to Duty
K23: How to facilitate and manage groups
Back to Duty
K24: Types of settings where restrictions on access to sources of information may apply to individuals
Back to Duty
K25: The rights and choices of the individual within the context of their circumstances
Back to Duty
K26: The importance of advocacy and self-advocacy in relation to the individual being supported
Back to Duty
K27: How to support the individual to prepare for reviews, complete applications and referrals
Back to Duty
K28: The importance of maintaining up to date knowledge of existing resources, identifying gaps in sources of support and how to search out new resources
Back to Duty
K29: How to raise awareness of the sources of support available and connecting individual's to the right resources for their needs
Back to Duty
K30: The importance of signposting in ways that are the most likely to be used independently by the individual
Back to Duty
K31: How stigma and labelling can affect individuals
Back to Duty
K32: Factors that may limit an individual’s access to resources and how to overcome these
Back to Duty
K33: The importance of following up with an individual to determine if signposting has met their needs or whether alternatives should be sought
Back to Duty
K34: How to get involved in service development activities to provide a peer perspective
Back to Duty
K35: The value of promoting the peer worker role to encourage understanding and acceptance of the role
Back to Duty
K36: The value of promoting lived experience perspectives and raising the concerns of individuals being supported
Back to Duty
K37: How to present information to individuals and groups
Back to Duty
K38: How individuals learn and how to tailor training delivery to the audience
Back to Duty
K39: How to work effectively in a team setting
Back to Duty
K40: How to promote the service user perspective within the team
Back to Duty
K41: The value of peer and professional networks
Back to Duty
K42: The limits of responsibility and competence of the peer worker role and where to seek advice, support or assistance when these limits are reached
Back to Duty
K43: How to positively challenge an individual or organisation’s low expectations of the individuals being supported
Back to Duty
K44: The action to take in line with organisational policy when discriminatory practice or behaviour is observed
Back to Duty
K45: How to manage own time, work priorities and resources effectively
Back to Duty
K46: The purpose and value of supervision, appraisals and personal development planning
Back to Duty
K47: Reflective practice how to use it effectively
Back to Duty
K48: The importance of self-care and available support structures
Back to Duty
K49: How to identify risk and undertake risk assessments following organisational policies and procedures
Back to Duty
K50: How to facilitate discussions on risk, acknowledge different perspectives on risk, promote positive risk taking and how and when to escalate concerns regarding risk
Back to Duty
K51: The principles of safeguarding
Back to Duty
K52: Legislation and organisational policy regarding risk and safeguarding
Back to Duty
K53: How to communicate with the individuals they support and the wider multi-disciplinary team
Back to Duty
K54: How to create and hold a safe space with someone experiencing distress
Back to Duty
K55: How to give feedback to the individuals being supported
Back to Duty
K56: How to seek and receive feedback from the individuals they support and the wider multi-disciplinary team
Back to Duty
K57: The organisation’s policy on record keeping
Back to Duty
K58: Legislation and organisational requirements on confidentiality, consent and information sharing
Back to Duty
S1: Develop and maintain mutual and reciprocal peer relationships
Back to Duty
S2: Mutually establish the purpose and boundaries within the peer relationship
Back to Duty
S3: Engage with and support families and carers
Back to Duty
S4: Manage and prepare for the ending of the peer relationship
Back to Duty
S5: Purposefully share lived experience within the context of the peer relationship
Back to Duty
S6: Establish connections with the individual based on shared understanding of experiences
Back to Duty
S7: Model self-help and self-management approaches for the individual they are supporting
Back to Duty
S8: Support the individual to develop self-management and problem-solving skills
Back to Duty
S9: Support individuals to identify opportunities and overcome setbacks and challenges when trying to achieve self-defined goals
Back to Duty
S10: Support individuals to work toward self-defined goals using peer-based approaches in 1-to-1, drop-in or virtual settings
Back to Duty
S11: Support individual-led activities
Back to Duty
S12: Collaboratively discuss care and support options with the individual
Back to Duty
S13: Actively contributes to an individual’s care and goal plans with the individual
Back to Duty
S14: Sets up and work with groups to facilitate working toward individual or shared goals within the group setting
Back to Duty
S15: Support individuals to safely access support for their goals through digital platforms
Back to Duty
S16: Support the individual during changes in their life circumstances
Back to Duty
S17: Discuss concerns with the individual and when necessary raise any issues with an appropriate colleague or supervisor
Back to Duty
S18: Support the individual to self-advocate and through self-determination, make choices and control the care and support options open to them
Back to Duty
S19: Signpost to advocacy services
Back to Duty
S20: Support the individual to prepare for reviews and complete applications or referrals, e.g. housing, medication review, food bank, benefits
Back to Duty
S21: Identify new resources or community projects that could be accessed by individuals being supported
Back to Duty
S22: Raise awareness and understanding of the opportunities available to the individuals being supported
Back to Duty
S23: Act as a community connector to build links with community resources
Back to Duty
S24: Support individuals to navigate through systems to access support, signposting resources relevant to their circumstances and self-defined goals that they can access independently
Back to Duty
S25: Support co-production and delivery of learning and development activities to raise awareness and understanding of the Peer Worker’s role and remit
Back to Duty
S26: Use service development activities to tackle stigma and labelling to encourage culture change
Back to Duty
S27: Give presentations and deliver training to small groups
Back to Duty
S28: Promote the lived experience perspectives and concerns of the individual being supported across own workplace and other organisations and services
Back to Duty
S29: Promote and embed peer-based approaches in teams and services with which they work
Back to Duty
S30: Use meetings with other multi-disciplinary team members to facilitate understanding of the individual’s perspective and their rights
Back to Duty
S31: Work collaboratively with the multi-disciplinary team and other organisations or services
Back to Duty
S32: Positively challenge low expectations and discriminatory practice to influence system change and enhance services
Back to Duty
S33: Seek advice, support or assistance from the appropriate person when the limits of own responsibility and competence has been reached
Back to Duty
S34: Manage own time and work priorities, using resources effectively
Back to Duty
S35: Develop and maintain peer and professional networks
Back to Duty
S36: Actively participate in team and peer supervision
Back to Duty
S37: Reflect on and applies learning to practice
Back to Duty
S38: Recognise the importance of self-care, taking appropriate action when required
Back to Duty
S39: Participate in appraisal, personal development planning and continuous professional development
Back to Duty
S40: Identify risks and contribute to required risk assessments
Back to Duty
S41: Facilitate discussions with individuals and between the individual and the services they use on potential risks to their health and safety when working toward their self-defined goals
Back to Duty
S42: Promote positive risk taking and different perspectives on risk within the team
Back to Duty
S43: Take action in line with organisational policy where there are safeguarding concerns
Back to Duty
S44: Recognise high-risk situations and takes action in line with organisational policy
Back to Duty
S45: Adapt their communication to meet the needs of others
Back to Duty
S46: Support individual's who are experiencing distress
Back to Duty
S47: Provide relevant and supportive feedback to the individual in the peer relationship
Back to Duty
S48: Actively seek feedback from individuals or groups on the support provided
Back to Duty
S49: Maintain accurate records, ensuring where records are about the individual being supported, these are co-produced
Back to Duty
S50: Follow legal and organisational requirements when dealing with confidentiality, consent and information sharing
Back to Duty
B1: Through sharing mutual experiences establishes the peer relationship and inspires hope
Back to Duty
B2: Acknowledges diversity of experiences and works in an inclusive way
Back to Duty
B3: Develops and shares a commonality of mutual experience and establishes equality within the peer relationship
Back to Duty
B4: Compassionate, showing respect and kindness to self and others
Back to Duty
B5: Explores choices in a non-directive and non-judgemental way with the individual being supported and empowers them to come to their own decisions
Back to Duty
Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking the End-Point Assessment. For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship’s English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is an alternative to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL.
3
15
This apprenticeship standard will be reviewed after three years
Contact us about this apprenticeship
| Version | Change detail | Earliest start date | Latest start date | Latest end date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Approved for delivery | 20/07/2022 | Not set | Not set |
Crown copyright © 2024. You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. Visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence