We acknowledge and appreciate the support of GENIO and MHER in funding this project
Enormous thanks to Peer Advocacy in Mental Health for partnering with us to deliver this project.
Special thanks, also, to the EVE participants and staff who co-produced the programme with us, and were so generous with their time and feedback
Unlocking Potential for Peer-Led Initiatives in EVE
Introduction
Project Aim
Programme Deliverables
Participating HUBs
The Process
& Outcomes
& Responses
EVE is a provider of community-based day services for adults with experience of mental health difficulties in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow As outlined in our Strategic Plan: Going Forward Together (2024-2028), two of our strategic priorities are to support people to use their lived experience, and to deepen our culture of empowerment. Enhancing engagement with those who use our services is a key action for us in pursuit of those strategic priorities.
In 2024, EVE received Genio funding via the National Office for Mental Health Engagement & Recovery (MHER) to develop a training programme, in partnership with Peer Advocacy in Mental Health (PAMH), the purpose of which was to support implementation of the Mental Health Engagement Framework across services. Our grant submission document can be viewed in Appendix 1.
The project was led by EVE’s Peer Support Worker alongside PAMH’s Head of Training & Development, with the support of the EVE management team.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q31SLiJ8DQQ
To deliver a co-produced training programme offering EVE participants an opportunity to develop and enhance the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to undertake peerled initiatives and engagement opportunities, leading to the development of a community of peers across EVE, based on mutual support, learning and empowerment.
The co-produced programme culminated in the development of a day-long workshop event, which was delivered in seven of EVE’s HUBs over November/December 2024
Using co-production principles, the design of the programme addressed the following elements:
Defining the language and key concepts around peer-led initiatives
Exploring the benefits of peer-led initiatives
Identifying skills and personal qualities that sustain peer-led initiatives
Addressing how decision-making, group roles, boundaries and responsibilities, self-esteem and assertiveness, pitfalls and challenges are managed.
Developing an Action Plan to support a new peer-led initiative
Examining how participants and staff could best work together for success
Reviewing resources planned and in place to support EVE’s peer-led initiatives
Castleview (Finglas)
Cherryfield (Walkinstown)
Goirtin (Grangegorman)
Harvest (Kildare)
Larine (Maynooth)
Hew Horizon (Tallaght)
Thomas Court (Dublin 8)
Co-facilitated by Jenny Langley (EVE Peer Support Worker) and Jim Walsh (Head of Training & Development, PAMH ), in July 2024 EVE hosted a day-long co-production event, attended by representatives from the participant and staff community.
The purpose of this event was to explore and detail our participant community’s needs in relation to the supports required to undertake peer-led initiatives. The co-produced materials generated from this event were summarised in a reader-friendly format and shared at a follow-up session with participants and staff, to ensure their input had been accurately reflected. It was then shared to the wider participant and staff community who were invited to respond with additional thoughts/ideas. This document was then used as the basis for formulating a proposed draft of the programme content.
The draft programme agenda was shared with our community of participants and staff in the form of a one-page leaflet, written in plain English, explaining its purpose, outlining its benefits and listing its components.
The dissemination of this information was supported with a five minute video (see below), which was shown to and shared with everyone across the HUBs, to encourage participation in the programme.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0lr1tGSKD4
All feedback from HUBs regarding the outline of the programme, levels of interest and any suggested additions or amendments were captured in an online follow-up session with participants and staff who had attended the co-production event and incorporated into the programme design.
The day-long programme of content was delivered across each of our seven participating HUBs during November and December 2024 In total, 119 participants and staff attended the events.
Of the 119 participants and staff who engaged with the programme, 80 returned completed evaluation forms for review. Results are outlined on the following pages.
A programme to support and sustain peer-led activity across EVE in 2025 and promote service-user engagement is currently being developed and implemented , based on feedback from this project Looking Ahead in 2025
participants and staff attended training, across seven centres
participant to staff ratio (approx.)
people who attended the events returned completed evaluation forms
response rate (attendees who completed evaluation forms)
Evaluation forms were distributed to attendees at the end of each event. Most centres chose to complete and return these in the following days, due to time constraints
There were two slightly varied versions of the evaluation form – one for participants, the other for staff. Both forms can be viewed in Appendix 2.
Each form requested that responders indicate concurrence with nine separate statements and there were two open questions exploring how people had benefitted from the programme and any suggestions they may have to improve it
Concurrence with each statement was measured using a point system: Totally Disagree (0), Disagree (1), Neutral (2), Agree (3), Totally Agree (4) Concurrence rates were gathered per centre and are summarised in Appendix 3. Summary findings from the statements section of the evaluation form, are as follows:
felt more confident in their ability to engage with peer-led initiatives
reported better understanding of peer-led initiatives and how to support engagement gained understanding of supports available and who to ask for help
likely to get involved in peer-led initiatives (participants)
happy to offer support to peer-led initiatives in their HUB (staff).
The training sessions were considered to be ‘informative’, ‘beneficial’, ‘valuable’, ‘useful’ and ‘enjoyable’.
Many reported the day was too long and intensive Feedback indicates that future iterations of this programme would be better delivered in multiple, shorter sessions. There were no other requests for amendments to the programme
The template Action Plan and Group Reflective Journals were considered useful tools and have since been requested in soft copy
There were numerous comments on the feedback forms (e.g. “reinforce the use of my voice”, “feeling anxious is normal”, “I will be more confident” and “being able to support each other more”), which indicated that people valued the programme for its ability to unlock their potential and support them in their recovery
Attendees indicated an interest in pursuing the set-up of conversation cafés, movie clubs, representative committees and a peer support group
The programme was praised for the level at which it was pitched; it was considered ‘enjoyable and informative’, providing ‘clarity and insight’ into the issues addressed
“To reinforce the use of my voice”
What did you gain from today’s training?
“Feeling anxious is normal so just keep going”
“The know-how to organise a peer-led activity”
As of 28th February 2025, we have received confirmation that at least five new peerled initiatives are being established across the seven participating HUBs. These include: a movie club, a pool group, a chess club, and there are two conversation cafés being organised
A participant from one HUB has visited another centre, specifically to provide advice and support around the establishment of a representative committee in that location
Staff across a number of locations have sought advice/clarification around the parameters of support they should be providing, indicating that there is a need and an appetite to provide more staff-specific resources and supports.
The project poster titled “Unlocking Potential for Peer-Led Initiatives in EVE” (Appendix 4) was displayed at a NIMC briefing on the 29th of January 2025 by HSE Dublin & Midlands mental health services
Over the course of 2025, we are planning to design and implement the following supports, to further embed peer-led activity across EVE:
Co-production of a Peer Support Charter, which will be developed by HUB participants along with EVE’s Peer Support Worker, and PAMH’s Head of Training & Development.
Co-production of a support document for HUB participants, outlining the steps and considerations for organising off-site events, visits or excursions. This may well cover issues such as transportation, cost of activities, and a how-to for commonly occurring challenges.
Establishment of a Peer Network across EVE This may take the form of periodic meetings online or in person, where representatives from the participating HUBs may share details of the initiatives in their centres and their experience of setting up/running them to date.
Co-production of a document, by and for staff, around how best to support peer-led initiatives in their centre. Depending on the scope of the document, HUB participants will also be represented in this process
Complete the revision of the structure of this first phase of the programme into a multi-session programme of material, so that it is more easily digested by participants and better embedded in HUB culture going forward.
Development of a second phase of the programme, based around the establishment of self-advocacy groups.
EVE is planning to undertake development of a Vision Document, outlining how the organisation can and will demonstrate the value it places on lived experience and the supports it can and will put in place to back this up.
This project is one of many initiatives that EVE is undertaking to support people to use their lived experience and to deepen a culture of empowerment across our programmes and services.
We recognise that investment in capacity-raising initiatives is key to building pathways and opportunities for our participants to engage in self-advocacy and peer-advocacy.
EVE is currently formulating a programme of activity for 2025 that will help support and sustain peer-led activity and promote service user engagement across the organisation
We acknowledge and appreciate the support of GENIO and MHER in this project and hope you will consider us for future funding to continue this work
Appendix I: Grant Submission
Appendix II: Evaluation Forms
The table below summarises the number of attendee responses per statement. The degree of concurrence (from ‘totally disagree’ to ‘totally agree’) was scored (from 0 for ‘totally disagree’ to 4 for ‘totally agree’), and this was used to calculate the degree of concurrence per statement.
E.g. There were 80 responses to the first question, giving a total potential of 320 points. The statement actually scored 286 points, indicating an 89% concurrence with the statement
On Wednesday 29th January, 2025, the Dublin and Midlands Health Region hosted a conference to update the National Implementation and Monitoring Committee (NIMC) for Sharing the Vision on its activities. EVE was invited to deliver a presentation and display a number of posters at the event. The following is the poster which EVE made available to NIMC in relation to this project
EVE’s Strategic Plan: Going Forward Together (2024-2028):
An e-zine version of our plan is available at: https://issuu.com/hse eve/docs/hse-eve-strategic-plan-2024-2028
A downloadable PDF version of the plan is available at: https://eve.ie/download/1461/HSE-EVE-Strategic-Plan-Accessible.pdf
An easy-read or plain English version of the plan is available at: https://eve.ie/download/1463/EVE-Strategic-plan-Easy%20Read.pdf
A video outlining the plan is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q31SLiJ8DQQ
EVE’s Peer-Led Initiatives Programme:
The short video used to introduce this programme to EVE’s member/participant and staff community is available to view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0lr1tGSKD4