QualityRights Training: Individualized peer support for lived experience individuals

The World Health Organization's (WHO) QualityRights initiative aims to improve the quality of care and support provided in social and mental health services, and to promote the human rights of people with psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities worldwide.

The training and guidance modules of the QualityRights initiative aim to increase knowledge, skills and understanding among key stakeholders on how to promote the rights of people with psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities, as well as improve the quality of services and support provided in the field of mental health and other related areas, in line with international human rights standards and, in particular, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the recovery approach.

The aim of this module is to provide guidance on how to offer and strengthen peer support for people with psychosocial, intellectual, or cognitive disabilities. This module focuses on offering individualized, in-person support rather than other forms of support, such as through social media or online peer support. Individualized peer support is more established in the field of mental health than among people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities, as illustrated by the scarcity of real-world examples related to these individuals in this module. However, this type of support is also valuable for people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities.