- Recorded live in March, 2024
- Watch the webinar
About ImROC
ImROC is a mental health support and development organisation based in England. It is an independent consultancy and training organisation recognised globally for its recovery-focused approach and expertise in the translation of its values into practice.
Evaluating ImROC’s Peer Support Theory and Practice training
ImROC has been delivering peer training for over 15 years. In 2022, ImROC commissioned Matter of Focus to carry out an independent evaluation of their Peer Support Theory and Practice training. The course provides a foundational training for people interested in offering mental health peer support in the statutory and voluntary sectors.
Our evaluation approach helps organisations working with complex, people-based change.
We take an outcome mapping approach that aims to uncover not only if, but also how interventions or initiatives make a difference. For this evaluation we were seeking to understand if and how the training contributed towards trainees going on to thrive in their roles as peer supporters.
Following the participatory outcome mapping process, supported by a scoping review of wider peer support training, we evaluated our proposed theory of how change happened through the training. We did this by collecting and analysing a variety of research data including individual interviews, focus groups and surveys with trainees and trainers over eight months.
About this webinar
Our approach to the evaluation is introduced by Dr Simon Bradstreet (Principal Evaluation Consultant, Matter of Focus) and key findings and recommendations are presented by Dr Audrey Buelo (Evaluation Consultant, Matter of Focus).
A question and answer session follows the presentation, in conversation with Poppy Repper and Danny Bowyer (ImROC Peer Training Team Co-Leads).
- As we discuss key findings from the evaluation, we hear about the complexity of delivering training that asks people to share and respond to personal experiences in a way that is both safe and informative.
- Additionally, we reflect on the challenges of ensuring values-based training is accessible online.
- We also consider how theory-based approaches to evaluation can enhance our understanding of peer support and lived-experience based approaches.
Who is this webinar for
This webinar will be particularly relevant if you have an interest in:
- peer support training and practice in mental health and more widely
- developing, making the case for, or evaluating peer and lived experience approaches
- theory-driven but real world and pragmatic evaluation methods.
Watch the webinar
Read the report
Download a pdf copy of ‘ImROC Peer Support Theory and Practice Training – an independent evaluation’
download the report