Background

The Mental Health Commission says in its Service User Workforce Development Strategy 2005, that by 2010, people with experience of mental illness will make up a skilled, powerful, pervasive and openly identified part of the mental health workforce in New Zealand.

It is now 2010. Over the last few years the service user workforce has grown significantly, especially with the emerging peer support workforce. People with experience of mental illness are a skilled, powerful, pervasive and openly identified part of the mental health workforce. However, there is still much work to be done towards enhancing the potential and value of this workforce.

Te Pou has a service user workforce development manager, responsible for a number of service user workforce projects. The role also has an important component providing service user advice, expertise and support to other Te Pou projects to ensure they are recovery-influenced, service user centred and, therefore, more likely to succeed.

In addition, this role is a national service user 'champion' role, which requires close liaison with service managers, general managers, funding and planning managers, and those running national and international mental health initiatives to prepare the sector for, and promote, the service user workforce.

Strong relationships and connections with service users, service user groups, service user workers and service user led services are pivotal for Te Pou in developing a capable workforce.

At Te Pou, we are assisting in a range of service user workforce projects that aim to:

• support, champion and grow service user workforce development in New Zealand
• support, champion and grow the number of service users working in mental health
• prepare, support and inform mental health culture, services and workforces for service user workers
• uphold, role model and champion recovery principles and values
• role model effective service user work, ethics and values
• ensure Te Pou's workforce projects, people and outcomes are well informed and have strong service user participation
• focus on recovery values and support effective positive outcomes for service users and their family/whanau.

Page last updated: 24 February 2010