A comparison of the workplace perceptions of lived experience and non-lived experience mental health support workers, the good news

Purpose This study aims to investigate the workplace experiences of people with lived experience of mental health issues working as mental health support workers and compare those with people who do not have lived experience. To determine whether a US developed barriers and enablers survey may be applicable in the Australian context. Design/methodology/approach A composite survey was sent to 550 people working in a large Australian community managed organisation (CMO) resulting in 175 completed responses. Findings Overall, the study found that people with lived experience had more positive perceptions of their workplace than people without lived experience. Research limitations/implications The work was conducted in one large Australian mental health CMO. There was no standard definition of lived experience used in the survey, the people participating in the study were free to apply their own definition of having lived experience of mental health issues. Practical implications There is substantial evidence that the outcomes achieved by peer support and people with lived experience are at least equivalent to outcomes achieved by standard clinical support. There is far less evidence about the experiences of people in the workforce and information that not only are good outcomes achieved but that the experiences of the support workers themselves may be more positive provides an even stronger case for employing people with lived experience in the mental health workforce. Social implications This study adds more weight to the argument for people with lived experience to be included in the mental health support workforce and to the prospect of meaningful, paid employment for a section of the population that has often been deprived of this highly beneficial circumstance. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no extant work that compares the workplace perceptions of people with lived experience to those without lived experience in the mental health support workplace. Specifically, there is no extant work in the Australian CMO context.