A day in the life of a peer support worker: Melinda
| Pages | 176-179 |
| Published date | 04 November 2014 |
| Date | 04 November 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-08-2014-0030 |
| Author | Emma Watson |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
A day in the life of a peer support
worker: Melinda
Emma Watson
Emma Watson is a Peer
Support Worker, based at
Nottinghamshire Healthcare
NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into a day in the life of a peer support worker.
Design/methodology/approach – Narrative account and analysis of the boundary challenges and
“boundary issues”raised by work with a client.
Findings – Reflective account, no findings presented.
Originality/value – An original viewpoint on the challenges and “boundary issues”raised in the work of a
peer support worker.
Keywords Peer support, Boundary issues, Personal account
Paper type Viewpoint
I am on my way to visit Melinda. It is a freezing cold morning and as I sit in the traffic I am thinking
about our last meeting. Melinda has not long been discharged from hospital and her mood is
constantly on the change. She has four beautiful children and a beautiful home, people say she
is lucky and on a good day she agrees wholeheartedly. The thing is about having four children,
elderly parents, a house to run and a demanding extended family as Melinda does, is that the
concept of a graded return is a bit impossible. If I were to be discharged from hospital I would go
back to my flat where I live on my own, I would have visitors and build up the time I spend out
gradually, I would take each day as it comes. I could adapt my life into a gentler version of living,
just for a while. When you have got a family waiting for you, discharge from hospital must hit you
like a tonne of bricks. Melinda has been up every morning with the children, keeping them
cheerful, fighting back her lack of cheer. There is no “I don’t think I’m ready for a busy
supermarket yet”. If the kids are hungry and there is no food in the house, the supermarket
is the only option. Her parents have been very helpful and would do anything for their
grandchildren, but the guilt of overburdening them seems to Melinda to be worse than the strain
of having the kids.
On our last visit we went for a coffee while the kids were at school, then we came back and did
some tidying up; I am imagining that we might do the same this morning. I knock on the door
and wait for an answer. I notice that the car is in the drive but it does not mean that Melinda is
in – she might be doing the school run. I wait and knock again. No answer.I ring her mobile, no
answer so I leave a text: “Hi Melinda, I’m at your house, were we supposed to be meeting this
morning? I might have got the time wrong! Give me a text or a call when you get this and we can
make a plan. Hope you’re OK, sorry I missed you, Emma”. A dark thought enters my mind that
something might have happened but I brush it away. I do not feel overly concerned really
because Melinda’slife includes a lot of spontaneity and she might have bumped into one of her
many friends during the school run, so I just leave hoping she is enjoying herself.
I go back to the hospital where I am based and spend my morning on the female ward instead.
The ward is full to bursting with big personalities, trying to cope with big feelings, so I try and get
PAGE 176
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MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
j
VOL. 18 NO. 4 2014, pp. 176-179, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/MHSI-08-2014-0030
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