Appendix 1. Stakeholder workshop - notes of small group discussions Group 1 Is it possible that customers build a relationship with the service, rather than individuals? How? All group members agreed that operationally this is a key challenging question, where consistency cannot be guaranteed since support workers can change at any time as an outcome of their employability status. So, it’s of no good for the service to develop expectations and promises of any kind that cannot be kept. A proposal for involving customers into service’s development as an added support measure that would be delivered by one customer to another challenged the group. From the one part were those that found the ideas as a good proposition and to those more skeptic regarding possible unintentional underestimation of the complexity that follows customers lives. Linking the first and second questions the team suggest that peer mentoring is a good approach for building model relationships that eventual move customers toward more socially integrated life. However special caution is needed.
What structured support or training might be useful for staff and PM volunteers? Thus, specialized training and support were recognized as essential elements for effective volunteering. It was also stressed that peer mentors are usually people that they themselves under a recovery process and as such it is of great importance not to be overwhelmed emotionally through their peer mentoring. Another point of view concerned managerial issues and the different kinds of communications need to develop between the management team, the employees and the volunteers. Specifically, a scepticism that was developed concerned issues which revealed some kind of vulnerability of peer mentors on handling crisis situations that expose them to possible danger. So key question regards with the possible vulnerability of peer mentors to possible customers’ manipulations making them cross boundaries (on their efforts to help) that must not be crossed. An idea that many of the group members agree with (as remedy to the aforementioned) was the peer mentoring group meetings, where through these meetings peer mentors can share their experiences and their feelings.
Group 2 Is it possible that customers build a relationship with the service, rather than individuals? How? reduce dependency – highlight service offer and who does what PIE issue of re-telling story. reduce turnover. Takes time for one worker to build rapport – need to focus on quality relationships which suffered due to pandemic. But also need to reduce dependency. 47
