Wellness Navigators work in collaboration with referred individuals who may lack the resources, knowledge or skills needed to the make those next steps on their road to recovery. Navigators offer assistance by linking to concrete services, advocate with consumers on both an individual and systems level, and serve as role models so that each service recipient learns the skills needed to advocate for themselves.
Many of our Navigator staff are peers working in the field. Peer Support is not a new concept. The field of addictions introduced the concept of integrating peer workers into the service delivery team. This concept formally expanded to the mental health held during the 1980’s when mental health consumers began demonstrating the value of the peer worker’s input in programming, support services, and policy development. NJ consumers began working and volunteering throughout the state.
The Mental Health Association in Atlantic County [MHAAC] has a long history of creating job opportunities for consumers of mental health services, who are people who have themselves experienced mental illness. In 1986, the first Peer Outreach Support Team was created, by consumers working with MHAAC. This program utilized trained staff, who provided outreach services to those unwilling, unable, or unmotivated to leave their homes. They also provided in- home peer support to consumers in crises and assist them on their road to recovery. Home visits and referrals mimic existing professional services with a twist, peers helping peers. The Atlantic County POST program gained a reputation for providing services to consumers needing assistance, which enable them to remain in the community.
Today there is an increasing number of individuals being referred for services who do not meet the criteria for PACT or ICMS. However, these individuals can benefit from some concrete services. Many of the referrals to our support services need short-term interventions to stabilize a current crisis or to overcome a roadblock, while the smaller number are in need of more intense long term services.
Peers who currently work as Wellness Navigators have demonstrated that, they are sometimes better suited for doing things that in the past were only within the scope of the traditional social work staff, and that having lived experience with mental health does not diminish their ability to do a job. This is empowering both for the peers working as Navigators and for the individuals they work with who view the Navigators as a positive role model whose life experience gives them insight into their journey to recovery.
For more information, contact Victoria Phillips, Executive Director, at vphillips@mhanj.org or (609) 652-3800, ext. 307.
