Peers are being engaged to share their substance use expertise

Alison Kyte joined IH in 2019 to develop the Peer Inclusion and Engagement Project together with Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) Network colleague Jessica Mensinger.

When embarking on the Peer Inclusion and Engagement Project, Alison and Jessica brainstormed about how to best advance the work.

“Right from the very beginning, we said, ‘we need recruit a network of people with lived and living experience to help us figure this out,” Alison said.

Alison and Jessica asked, “How do we in our organization, which is really built on learned experience, now bring in lived experience alongside to inform how we provide health care?”

They also saw the need for diverse experience – in background, socioeconomic status, age, gender, ethnicity and culture, realizing that “the more voices and perspectives the better informed our work will be.” As part of this inclusive approach, they set their intention to recruit as many Indigenous people to the project as they could.

Peers in the context of this project are defined as people with lived or living experience of substance use. Their lived experience is central to their role; peers help IH plan and deliver substance use services.

It’s important to note that the term “peer” is used within IH to create a shared understanding of the work being done. However, “peer” is not always the preferred term and people stepping into these roles are given the opportunity to create their own titles. For example, the people co-facilitating IH’s Addressing Stigma Dialogue Sessions chose the title “Lived Experience Educator.”

One of the questions that the Peer Inclusion Framework has asked is, “How do we make our MHSU services more culturally inclusive and bring Indigenous approaches to healing, knowing and being?” Alison has found that the Peer Advisory Group has been a great way to ensure Indigenous voices are included in engagement and the planning of services.

Peer Inclusion is very much a strengths-based approach that integrates the lived experience of peer volunteers and makes room for their goals to inform - and transform - the work.

For Brock Thomas, a Peer Volunteer, the goal is to build a bridge between the Spallumcheen community and IH MHSU. His work has evolved over the past two years and is informed by Indigenous ways of knowing and being.

“Each community is different,” Brock said. “Each challenge is different and there’s not going to be an overnight cure.”

Although there is a long road ahead, he is glad that the government is taking up the challenge.

“It took generations of trauma and hurt and addiction to get to where we’re at – it’s going to take generations to get out.”

Brock believes that it’s important to meet people wherever they are on their healing journey and to create culture-based healing programs that are open to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. He sees the importance of culture and community in the healing process. Through the pilot, he has facilitated drumming lessons and a drum making workshop.

“Helping community members be a part of that, that was beautiful,” he said.

Just as the pilot leaves room for the strengths that each peer brings to the program, there is also space for each community to identify what works best for them and test it out. Brock explained that “each community has their own needs and wants for healing and direction – Kelowna has their own. Penticton has their own. I just noticed in my community culture is a big part of what we need for healing.”

Plans are currently underway to build two sweat lodges for the community of Enderby and the Band in the New Year.

This work has also provided many opportunities to share experiences and stories between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous peers and other staff, leading to a deeper understanding of the impacts of colonization.

“I’ve learned so much from Brock [and others] through this project,” Alison said. “The vulnerability and openness that has been created has been a beautiful thing that has helped us envision what we’re walking toward.”

Interior Health’s Substance Use Peer Engagement & Inclusion webpage has more information about the Peer Advisory Group, Youth Peer Advisory Group and Peer Volunteer opportunities.

Visit the Substance Use Peer Engagement & Inclusion webpage