NAPS -The Instituite

Morning fellow Peers.

So what did you think about the institute? Any comments/thoughts? We peers want to know what you have to say.

Some thoughts from my perspective.

First I want to thank NAPS for a world class overall presentation. I sensed an atmosphere of passion for recovery and all it entails. I heard the recovery /peer voice in those that shared ideas with us all in the group activities. I especially found it around the coffee pot. It was interesting to hear the cacophony of so many voices sharing their own sense of recovery and the way they carry that out in providing peer services. Awesome stuff!


For me a personal highlight of attending recovery/peer focused conferences is meeting new friends. I was in a group with people from such places as Montana, W. Virgina, Michigan, Pittsburgh, etc. The exchange among us went rather well I thought.

One of the most interesting aspects yesterday for me was hearing from different people who received their trainings from different "vendors" and work in various types of programs. the viewpoints and experiences for me provoked so many thoughts that it was hard to keep up with my note taking on what was taking place in front of me and what I was thinking. My brain was responding to the internal and external.


So I was curious what people thought about the last part of the day. Specifically, the setting up and performing program evaluation research.

I have to be honest ,and say that some of the ideas presented I had some difficulty reconciling.
The reason for this, is investigation of any kind, of any thing, requires distinct ways of defining not only what is to be measured, but the way the phenomena is measured and a precise definition of what operationally is being measured. Moreover, and this speaks to a bigger picture, when doing program measurements doesn't it behove us to test it against something to see what it was, wheres it's going, and how it got there?

Descriptive stats have their place, but they are just that; descriptive. They don't test for anything as far as I can see. This is not to say that I don't value the ideas presented I just think they are a part of what needs to be a much bigger package.

An example of what I am talking about? We all know, in one form or another (I hope :) ) what WRAP is. But do programs from Alaska and Florida, for example define and operationalize the term "Liking myself" mean? Isn't safe to consider that they might be very different things in different part of the county,world, planet?

Not only that. How can you behaviorally define "liking myself" as part of a program outcome? What does it look like? How do you measure it? How does it (or did) it change lives?


Those are just some thoughts to consider..


One last thing of note I wanted to share and this is in regard to the "rehab plan" exercises.
The woman from Horizon House (on the panel and forgive me I've misplaced her name) pointed out we need to be good teachers when educating those we serve. An additional thought that i had to this is that many of us, as CPS and the Peers we work with experience learning challenges in one form or another. We all learn in different ways. Visual learning, like that of a train map, is a major challenge for me. I have a real hard time in the visual-spatial realm. And I'm willing to bet there are many like me in that respect. My point is finding out, by asking or observing, how the peers we work with learn can be a major asset in the "learning curve."

I want to thank Dr. Salzer for his comprehensive overview of the current research with respect to community intergration. I'm wondering if the Dr was aare he was "preaching to the choir", as one peer put it when he was presenting his findings.

One thing of note. The Concept that Dr. Salzer that drop in centers and clubhouses were seperate enviornments struck me as interesting. I wanted to hear more about that and how that effects peer run-operated services-and agency run peer services. Maybe somebody posting has some thought to share?


Good work Dr. S, thanks for your efforts and I hope you got that grant application done. Go you!

last thing

I wanted to take the time to Congratulate two Bucks County CPS on recent Job changes/hiring.

Way to go Donna G. congrats on your new position.

And welcome to Partial at LVF Julie H. I look forward to working with you :)

have any thoughts/ideas/concerns/resources, etc....BLOG them here...

J