Starting or strengthening a peer support programme often goes through four phases, including:

• Community and Organisational Readiness - such as assessing needs, obtaining stakeholders’ buy-in, and securing resources.
• Program Development - planning peer support interventions, developing policy and procedures and recruiting and training peer supporters.
• Program Implementation - reaching and engaging program participants, and monitoring and supporting peer supporters.
• Evaluation - documenting the process, and identifying, evaluating outcomes/impact.

There is no single ingredient that is required or guarantees success, but following items will help to get over some of common barriers:

Get Buy-in

Identifying key people in the community / organisation that can support you in turning your dream into a reality will ultimately decide between success and failure of your programme. 

Group membership

Decide on the purpose of the Peer Support Group. Activity 1 worksheet will help you to think about who your group is for and what you would like members to have in common. How can you make the environment safe and appropriate for the service users.

For example: Peer support for women who have experienced abuse from men, taking place in a women’s centre where men are not allowed, or have restricted access to would be an important consideration when setting up this group.

Mapping your venue

Map out the venue. Is it practically suitable for your group. Activity 2 worksheet will help you to look at some common questions you will need to consider to ensure that the venue to accessible and appropriate for your target group.

Individuals must have choice and control on when and where they wish to access Peer Support Groups. They must feel they have ownership of the group.

Group agreement

For people to feel comfortable and safe, it is helpful to develop an agreement together. Ask the group members what they need to do to make sure everyone feels safe and comfortable in the group. Ask group members to make suggestions and draw up the agreement in collaboration with the whole group. 

Example agreement can include: 

• Confidentiality: whatever is shared in this room remain in this room
• Be non-judgemental and respectful of each other. 
• Switch off mobile phones.

Barriers

Identify barriers that can prohibit individuals from accessing the peer group and possible solutions. Work with the group to find solutions collectively.

For example:

• Problem: too many people in the room
• Solution: split the people into smaller groups

Leadership

Explore the leadership required in the group. Peer support can take many different forms. What peer support sessions look like in practice can vary greatly depending on the project and the setting. 

Are you looking at designated leadership role or could leadership responsibilities be shared amongst the group.

Volunteering allows people to offer their time but also benefit from the experience. Increasing access to volunteering gives more people the opportunity to give their time and expertise. This is even more crucial to people with disabilities, but providing access should be a universal goal across your volunteer program. 

Through research and global networking, there are few success factors for designing and managing a peer support program: 

• Keep it simple - Remember that peer support is meant to ‘support’ individuals with identified issues. 
• Avoid too many details of training - Although training is essential to grow volunteers, remember, key is knowing, listening, and being available. 
• Ongoing support – Support in format of information and growth for peer supporters is key to ensuring that reciprocal learning is taking place.

• A happier and healthier workforce. 
• Higher retention of personnel resulting to decreased costs of recruiting and training new employees. 
• Less sick leave, medical benefits and administrative expenses. 
• A way of employees to know what support resources are available to them and their families. 
• Enhanced job satisfaction.