Galia S. Moran

Bio: Galia S. Moran is an academic researcher from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mental health & Peer support. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 31 publications receiving 763 citations. Previous affiliations of Galia S. Moran include Hebrew University of Jerusalem & University of Haifa.

Challenges experienced by paid peer providers in mental health recovery: a qualitative study.

Abstract: Peer providers are increasingly employed in mental health services. We explored challenges experienced by 31 peer providers in diverse settings and roles using in-depth interviews, as part of a larger study focusing on their recovery (Moran et al. in Qual Health Res, 2012). A grounded theory approach revealed three challenge domains: work environment, occupational path, and personal mental health. Challenges in the work environment differed between conventional mental health settings and consumer-run agencies. Occupational domain challenges included lack of clear job descriptions, lack of skills for using one’s life story and lived experience, lack of helping skills, and negative aspects of carrying a peer provider label. Personal mental health challenges included overwork and symptom recurrence. Implications for all domains are discussed, with focus on training and skill development.

Benefits and Mechanisms of Recovery Among Peer Providers With Psychiatric Illnesses

Abstract: Providing peer support to individuals with psychiatric disabilities has emerged as a promising modality of mental health services. These services are delivered by individuals who experience mental illnesses themselves. The purpose of this study was to explore how working as a peer provider can enhance personal recovery. The study was conducted with 31 peer providers employed in a variety of mental health agencies. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Qualitative analysis revealed a wide range of recovery benefits for the peer providers. The benefits span across five wellness domains: foundational, emotional, spiritual, social, and occupational. In addition, analysis revealed five role-related and five work-environment-related mechanisms of beneficial impact. The role of sharing one’s personal story is highlighted as contributing to positively reauthoring one’s self-narrative. Implications for peer training, job development, and w...

A systematic review of influences on implementation of peer support work for adults with mental health problems

Abstract: The evidence base for peer support work in mental health is established, yet implementation remains a challenge. The aim of this systematic review was to identify influences which facilitate or are barriers to implementation of mental health peer support work. Data sources comprised online databases (n = 11), journal table of contents (n = 2), conference proceedings (n = 18), peer support websites (n = 2), expert consultation (n = 38) and forward and backward citation tracking. Publications were included if they reported on implementation facilitators or barriers for formal face-to-face peer support work with adults with a mental health problem, and were available in English, French, German, Hebrew, Luganda, Spanish or Swahili. Data were analysed using narrative synthesis. A six-site international survey [Germany (2 sites), India, Israel, Tanzania, Uganda] using a measure based on the strongest influences was conducted. The review protocol was pre-registered (Prospero: CRD42018094838). The search strategy identified 5813 publications, of which 53 were included. Fourteen implementation influences were identified, notably organisational culture (reported by 53% of papers), training (42%) and role definition (40%). Ratings on a measure using these influences demonstrated preliminary evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the identified influences. The identified influences provide a guide to implementation of peer support. For services developing a peer support service, organisational culture including role support (training, role clarity, resourcing and access to a peer network) and staff attitudes need to be considered. The identified influences provide a theory base to prepare research sites for implementing peer support worker interventions.

Motivations of Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities to Work in Mental Health Peer Services: A Qualitative Study Using Self-Determination Theory

Abstract: Introduction Individuals with psychiatric disabilities have low rates of employment and occupational rehabilitation success. Mental health peer services are a new occupational modality that opened a promising occupational path: persons with serious mental illnesses employed to provide support to others with psychiatric conditions. However challenges to successful peer work exist. Work motivation is central to understanding and supporting peer workers, yet little is known about sources of motivation to work as mental health peer providers. The aim of this study was to identify what drives individuals to mental health peer work using self determination theory (SDT). Methods Motivations of 31 mental health peer workers were explored as part of a larger study. A theory driven approach was employed to emerging qualitative data using SDT concepts: external motivation and internally regulated motivations derived from basic needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness). Results External motivations included generic occupational goals and getting away from negative work experiences. Internal motivations corresponded with SDT basic needs: autonomy met-needs was reflected in having freedom to disclose and finding that work accords with personal values; competence met-needs was reflected in using personal experience as a resource to help others; and relatedness met-needs were reflected in having opportunity to connect intimately and reciprocate with consumers. Conclusion This study identified external and internal motivations of persons with psychiatric disabilities to work as peer providers—a novel occupation in mental health. Employing personal experience and enabling peer contact emerge as major motivational tenets of mental health peer work. According to SDT instrumental occupational goals are considered more external than satisfaction of basic psychological needs. The study demonstrates the applicability of SDT in the design of autonomy supported environments to promote work engagement and sustenance of mental health peer providers.

Playback theatre and recovery in mental health: Preliminary evidence

Abstract: Playback theatre is a community-building improvisational theatre in which a personal story told by a group member is transformed into a theatre piece on the spot by other group members. Playback theatre combines artistic expression and social connection based on story-telling and empathic listening, thus bringing together modes thought to promote healing. Here, we explore the potential of playback theatre to promote recovery in the field of mental health. We conducted two playback courses for a total of 19 adults in a university-based program for recovery, and collected qualitative reports pre–post self-report measures for self-esteem, personal growth and recovery. We also developed a self-report measure named the playback impact scale that includes items related to creativity, confidence in performing, social connectedness and seeing one's life as full of stories. We find significant enhancement in the playback impact scale following a 10 week playback course. The qualitative reports indicate recurring themes of enhanced self-esteem, self-knowledge, as well as fun and relaxation, and enhanced sense of connection and empathy for others. These preliminary results suggest that playback theatre can serve as an effective practice for enhancing recovery processes from serious mental illness.

Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration

Abstract: Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration; Keith Sawyer; Basic Books, NY, 2007; 274 pp., $26.95. If you're involved in a business that depends on sustained innovation (and which doesn't?)-especially if you're a manager who can influence decisions and resources-then add this to your reading list. Keith Sawyer's writing is direct, clear, even friendly, and the text is unencumbered by ponderous footnotes and thick quotations. An associate professor of psychology at Washington University, St. Louis, Sawyer's personal hobbies of jazz and improv theater appear again and again to support his thesis that innovation is a product of groups, and that the solitary genius is a myth. But the scope of the book is more than that: it covers the important and current thinking about fostering innovation in the Internet-enabled age. By my own reading and experience in a research-driven Fortune 500 corporation, the innovation literature is converging on a number of "best practices." Sawyer captures them well, and with his well-chosen supporting anecdotes these are reason enough to read the book and get to work applying these lessons in your organization: * Poorly structured, lazy brainstorming is practiced so frequently and is so wasteful, we can't have enough books that reveal its flaws and how to improve upon it. Sawyer's treatment is excellent. * Sustained innovation depends on having many irons in the fire, with the corollary that failure will be frequent and must be supported. * Myths about lone geniuses need bursting. Even those who work alone stand on the shoulders of giants, and implementation always needs teamwork and has its own continuing need for creative problem solving. The risk of propagating the solitary genius concept (to the exclusion of other possibilities) is that organizations will fail to support "messy" teams. * Innovation happens at the "edge of chaos"; either too much or too little structure is destructive. * Clusters are important. It may seem risky to have many firms in one location competing for a common pool of talent, but history shows that a crossfertilizing, dynamic environment is more innovative and sustainable. * The Internet and related communications standards are flattening the world at an unprecedented pace; the Web empowers enormous networks of individual innovators. Standing still is not an option. Group Genius also benefits from: * Annotated Notes: Sawyer has made a wise choice to keep the prose simple and fast-moving, but as a result, major ideas sometimes jump off the page as bald assertions (for example, ". . . the most effective . . . groups are self-managing. . . . without being directed by a leader."). The annotated notes at the end of the book provide good counterweight and credibility to the breezy style. * Frequent Checklists: The book is sprinkled with bulleted lists of do's and don'ts, which stitch the storytelling narrative together into practical advice. …