In Touch newsletter: October 2016

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INTOUCH OCTOBER 2016

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CT O AW BER AR IS EN ME E S NT S AL M O HE N A TH L T

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Bryan Marshall and Anne Borrelly, peer support workers on the Inpatient Mental Health Unit, admire therapeutic plants, such as lavender and sage, which they help their clients grow in the unit’s courtyard. (Photo by Katie Cooper, Medical Media Centre)

Peers encourage wellness as members of mental health unit team By Evelyne Jhung

A stock broker living the fast life in France and Luxembourg. A sales and marketing associate turned research assistant. Those two lives were traded in long ago and now Anne Borrelly and Bryan Marshall serve coffee and hand out the morning papers as part of their duties as St. Michael’s first two peer support workers on the Inpatient Mental Health Unit. “It’s been 16 years of my own journey of recovery from addiction and mental health issues and I really wanted to Printed on 100 per cent recycled paper

work with people I could relate to and help, and keep growing along that path,” said Marshall, a former research assistant with St. Michael’s CRICH, now called the Centre for Urban Health Solutions. Similarly, Borrelly’s goal was to work on an inpatient unit because she felt that a peer support worker – someone with lived experience – could make a real difference as she didn’t have one herself when she was recovering from a bipolar diagnosis. “In a short time with us, Bryan and

Anne have become valued members of the team, contributing greatly to our positive therapeutic environment,” said Dr. Shelley Brook, a psychiatrist on the unit. “Patients find it comforting to have people with ‘lived experience’ available for support and inspiration.” As members of the interprofessional team, Marshall and Borrelly participate in rounds and with helping patients heal. They always start off the day with real (i.e. caffeinated) coffee and the papers with Continued on page 2 OCTOBER 2016 | IN TOUCH | 1


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In Touch newsletter: October 2016 by St. Michael's Hospital - Issuu