Developing Peer Support for Long Term Conditions

This is the final report of the Developing Peer Support for Long Term Conditions project, which was funded by the Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland (now known as the ALLIANCE) through their Self Management Fund 2011/2012.The Developing Peer Support for Long Term Conditions Project was led by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) in partnership with the following organisations: Angus Cardiac Group, British Heart Foundation Scotland, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, Diabetes Care Focus Group, Diabetes UK Scotland, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian, The Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland (RCGP) and Waverley Care.The purpose of this project was to take forward the findings from the feasibility study with the aim to:

• raise the credibility of peer support in long term conditions
• increase access to peer support in long term conditions
• improve the quality of peer support delivered and the support/supervision provided to those peer workers
• influence the development of peer support in long term conditions to ensure that it has a mental health and wellbeing focus and meets the needs identified in the feasibility study
• gain resources and support to develop peer support

The report outlines the aims and objectives of the project, describes the project activities, summarises findings and outcomes from the project and presents a series of conclusions and recommendations to point the way forward and future direction of peer support for people with long term conditions in Scotland.