Funded Projects

Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership

Project Year

2023

City & State

Whale Pass, Alaska

Program Name

CATCH Implementation

Topic

Mental Health (LHI)

Program Description

The Problem: Access to mental healthcare in Alaska, especially in the rural/frontier areas, is extremely limited. Alaskans with issues with mental health diagnoses, substance use/abuse and/or trauma do not have access to mental health services. Primary Setting Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will start on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska and expand, virtually, to other Alaskan, rural/frontier communities. Number of Children Affected 206,127 Alaskan children/ 732,673 Alaskan population Project Goals 1. Design a comprehensive website for Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership that will allow Alaskans to schedule in-person or virtual peer support appointments with a certified peer support specialist. 2. Apply to three grants to support implementation of peer support services in rural/frontier Alaska. 3. Hold a community forum on peer support services where we will introduce Prince of Wales Island to peer support. We will also distribute 100 surveys to assess residents understanding before the community and then after the community forum (pre/post test data will be collected). These surveys will be analyzed and data will be compiled and reported on at our weekly peer support meetings and on the newly designed Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership website. The community forum will have refreshments for participants and participants will receive gift cards and crisis phone number stickers as prizes for attending. 4. Increase peer support specialists offering services on Prince of Wales Island from zero (current amount) to 5 peer support specialists by 5/31/24. Proposed Interventions: 1. Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will develop a comprehensive, one-stop-shop for Alaskan peer support services. An Alaskan can visit the website to schedule an appointment, research what peer support is and to view many state and national peer support resources. 2. Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will hopefully secure more grant funds to continue this supportive work for peer support on Prince of Wales Island by applying to three additional grants during the CATCH Implementation period. 3. Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will educate Alaskans about peer support and gather pre/post data (using a survey) on Alaskan's knowledge of peer support during a community forum. 4. Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will help support creation of five, new peer support specialists positions on Prince of Wales Island by providing training resources, weekly implementation support meetings and through robust partnerships with local and statewide organizations. Anticipated outcomes: As of 5/31/24, the Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will have supported creation of five peer support specialist positions on Prince of Wales Island. Children and their families will have increased access to mental health care on Prince of Wales Island. This access will improve recovery outcomes for teenagers and parents. Recovery from substance use/abuse will help families have more hope and resilience. It will help them approach life with a healthy mindset and a bend towards wellness. Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will have applied to three grants to help support continuation of our peer support project by 5/31/24. We will hopefully get at least one of the three grants and will use those funds to continue our work with the Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership. Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will have a state-of-the-art website which Alaskans can use to access information about available peer support services in Alaska. As of 5/31/24, the Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership will be well on its way to having virtual peer support services available for most Alaskan, rural/frontier communities as a extension of our implementation work on peer support on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Peer support works!

Project Goal

Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership Program will bring Peer Support services to rural Alaskans.

Project Objective 1

Develop a comprehensive website for all of Alaska Family Peer Support Partnership's newly established peer support services. Completion of this objective will allow all residents of Prince of Wales Island to access the scheduling website for all of Prince of Wales Island's peer support services.

Project Objective 2

Apply for three grants during the CATCH Implementation period. These grants if awarded will continue to financially support our efforts to bring peer support services to Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.

Project Objective 3

Hold a community forum once during the CATCH implementation period and gather (pre- and post- forum) survey data from participants. Participants will be fed and will receive gift cards and stickers (with crisis number on them) for their participation.

AAP District

District VIII

Institutional Name

Pacific Pediatrics, LLC

Contact 1

Elisa Rosier