Background:
In October 2015, the Mental Health and Addiction Working Group (MHAWG), a sub-group of SWAHN's Community Engagement Committee, hosted a half day event, ‘Exploring Models of Mental Health Peer Support.’ The purpose of this event was to review and discuss the principles of mental health peer support models currently in operation in the SWAHN region (i.e., South West and Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Networks). The desired outcomes for this event included an increased awareness and understanding of various mental health peer support models.
 
This half-day event included presentations on mental health peer support perspectives and initiatives existing at the local, provincial, and national levels. Through presentations, group discussions, feedback, and post-event meetings, the importance and relatively solid and well-established position occupied by mental health peer support within the larger mental health system, was made apparent.
 
That said, it was also apparent to the MHAWG that the majority of peer support efforts are dedicated to serving the needs of those who identify as service users of mental health and addiction treatments, programs, and services. And, while the family members of individuals with mental health and addiction concerns are quite significant in their numbers, and in what has been referred to as the “burden of care” they experience, the attention they receive and the access to peer support that is specific to their needs, is lacking significantly.
 
It is this area of need that exists within the larger realm of mental health peer support that informed the theme of the next project to be undertaken by the MHAWG - a spring 2016 symposium.

Primary goal of the Symposium:
The primary goal of the May 2016 symposium was to identify two cross-sector (academia and community/hospital) collaborative research projects focused on peer support for families and/or informal caregivers who are supporting individuals living with mental health and/or addiction-related concerns. After the symposium, SWAHN would help to foster the advancement of the identified research projects.

Abstract submissions:
Abstract submissions were invited for the symposium for projects/initiatives that explored one or more of the following concepts:

• Family/informal caregiver mental health/addiction peer support process or program evaluation;
• Resilience as an element of family/informal caregiver mental health/addiction peer support;
• Building sustainability for family/informal caregiver mental health/addiction peer support programs;
• Applying research into practice with respect to family/informal caregiver mental health/addiction peer support;
• Strengthening relationships across systems with respect to family/informal caregiver mental health/addiction peer support programs.

Abstracts were judged according to the following criteria:

1. Projects that are focused on process or program evaluation, resilience, or sustainability, or a combination of these concepts as per the list above.
2. A clear description of the proposed initiative/research program.
3. Identification of proposed research and evaluation questions.
4. Innovation and program development details where applicable.
5. A clear indication of the project’s potential for collaboration (mandatory for oral presentations; preferred for posters) beyond your discipline or sector, for example, a community project’s engagement of academia or vice versa.

The call for submissions revealed that little research (past or present) has been done in the area of mental health and addiction family peer support. This information led the MHAWG to adjust its original symposium agenda to explore this research gap in more detail.

Symposium agenda and media release:
A keynote presentation was offered by Dr. Rick Csiernik concerning the place of families in mental health and addiction treatment. Following this address, other presentations were offered on the following topics: research ethics involving families; student engagement in family peer support programming; a personal account on the value of family peer support; and a "call to action" for research on family peer support.  Breakout group discussions involving the symposium attendees were held following the formal presentations. Information gathered during these discussions will be used by the MHAWG as it considers next steps.

Videos, biographies, and slide-deck presentations:
Speaker videos have been posted along with their biographies and the slide decks for each presentation.

Proceedings:
The symposium proceedings can be accessed here.