Developing Resilience via Peer Mentoring

Nick BarnesHaringey AOT

Resilience –

Positive adaptation to adversity despite serious threats to adaptation or development’ (Masten –

Ordinary Magic)

Beating the odds whilst also changing the odds (Boing Boing)

Developing Resilience in Young People

- e.g. the Resilience Framework developed by Boing Boing

Promoting Positive Youth Development

- a strengths based model that believes in the capacity for young people to change their behavioural and psychological characteristics. The capacity for change is linked to their development of new skills, interests and social relationships.

Peer Mentoring –

“Having a caring and committed person in your life is associated with higher levels of youth development and lower levels of problem/risk behaviours” (Theokas et al. 2006)

Peer Mentoring improves emotional resilience in adolescents and secondary outcomes (Dubois et

al. 2011)

Many existing mentoring programmes but very varied in quality and in particular level of training and support for mentors.

In 2006 – more than 5000 mentoring programmes in the USA alone, and not all have positive outcomes

Variations in approach and model, such as

- developmental approach versus prescriptive approach

- 1:1 work and/or group work

Building a mentoring relationship

Enabling trust

Opportunities for change

Development of specific programmes;

- More than Mentors (Newham)

- Haringey Peer Mentoring Forum

- Emotional Wellbeing Peer Mentors (Park View School)

More than Mentors –

UCLP with Newham CCG and LBN won a small grant to collaboratively develop and test a best practice model.

Project design

- Peer researchers

- Local partnership (stakeholder) team

- Clinical expert team

- Programme team

Collaborative development (June – Sept 2014):• 30 Peer research interviews (5 peer researchers from

NewVic)

• 16 interviews with local and regional expert providers

• Review of mentoring and positive psychology literature

• Two workshops brought together these findings• Written up best practice model which will be

openly available.

More than Mentors

• Mentor and mentee recruitment and matching

• Mentor training and support

• The nature of mentoring activities

• Routine outcome monitoring

Elements of best practice model

• Psychologist and school inclusion worker coming together to develop training

• The mentors will be trained and supported by this same team (started January2015).

• We shall be developing mentor supervisor training materials in due course.

.

Training development

• 10 peer mentors (16-18 yr old) recruited from a local school and are now trialling the training

• 10 mentees (12-14 yr olds) will be recruited

• The pilot will run over 10 weeks with the mentors supervised by our inclusion worker in collaboration with the school. Pilot will include online outcome monitoring

• The mentor supervisor will in turn be supported by Newham CAMHS

The Feasibility Study/Pilot (Dec-April 2015)

• Seeking to demonstrate here that a mentoring programme can be delivered by an inclusion lead in a school with support from the local CAMHs service

• Training materials and best practice model will be openly available

• Exploring options to deliver mentor training and support

Sustainability

• NewVic Sixthform College

• Community Links, NCY, Kids Company, MAC-UK, Diabetes Association, GLA Mayors Mentoring Programme

• Newham CCG, London Borough of Newham, Newham Educational Psychology Service

• Newham CFCS (ELFT), Haringey CAMHS/Peer mentoring forum, Tavistock and Portman CAMHS

• Common Room Consulting Ltd.

• UEL Clinical psychology service, UCL Clinical psychology department, Queen Mary University London, Anna Freud Centre, UCLPartners mental health and children and maternity programmes.

• GLA London Health Board (Public Health England, London), NHS England London Mental Health Strategic Clinical Network

Collaborating Partners to date