40% of disabled people aged 16-64 are working compared to 80% of non-disabled people.
Overview of Peer Support
What is Peer Support?
Peer support is an effective method for helping people facing barriers to take the first steps towards a paid job or to get the support they need to sustain employment.
Peer support involves people drawing on their experiences and knowledge to provide emotional assistance and practical help in a mutually beneficial way.
What is a Peer Support for Work Hub?
Everyone has the right to work and to the support they need to get there. Peer support helps people to build their confidence and take the first steps towards employment.
A Peer Support for Work Hub connects people with disabilities and long-term conditions who are interested in employment. It provides a safe environment for them to come together.
The hub can take place in a school, a community or a workplace and be attended by disabled people who are in work or those who are looking for work.
The Peer Support for Work Resource
SUSE consulted with disabled people in 2013 to understand what would support them in their journey into work and help them retain work. One of the key suggestions was access to peer support – support from other disabled people who have similar life experiences rather than from paid professionals. They felt this would help them feel more confident to raise issues that concerned them and seek the information they needed, particularly related to their disability. For disabled people in work, it was seen as an opportunity to communicate with other staff members who faced similar issues, in turn supporting them to retain their employment.
Since 2016, SUSE has been running workplace, community and school based Peer Support for Work Hubs in Edinburgh, the Lothians, the Scottish Borders and Ayrshire. The resource and learning from these hubs is now available for SUSE members who want to set up their own Peer Support for Work Hubs.
As a SUSE Member you will have access to the How to Guide on setting up a Peer Hub in the workplace. Why not become a SUSE Member now.