Peer Supporters are volunteers who are trained to provide one-on-one confidential, emotional support as well as referrals to other support organizations as needed. A Peer Supporter will be dispatched within 24 hours of a request for support services being received. The Peer Supporter may email or call the individual in need of support to arrange a date and time to speak on the phone or meet in person. This is usually a one-time meeting with occasional, optional follow-up.
During this Peer to Peer meeting, the Peer Supporter mostly listens to their peer’s concerns and offers support without feeling the need to give advice. The team member being contacted with an offer of peer support can decide to participate or not – it is not a requirement and completely up to them. All contacted care team members are offered a basic information and resource brochure.
There may be times when a Peer Supporter thinks the care team member needs more support and our program will have these resources available to you to recommend (e.g. grief counseling, behavioral health, employee assistance program, etc.).
This document outlines the role of the peer supporter, including who can be a peer supporter and what is expected.
Peer Supporters who need information on training resources may access them here. Please note this resource is only for trained Peer Supporters.