Peer Support, Coaching and Mentoring

A coach is someone who provides guidance to an individual on their goals and helps them reach their full potential

Coaching is a structured and goal-oriented approach in which a coach provides guidance, feedback, and practical assistance to an individual to help them achieve specific objectives or improve their skills and capabilities. The primary focus of coaching is to empower the individual to identify and work towards their personal or professional development goals. This process often involves regular one-on-one sessions, skill-building activities, and performance assessments to enhance the individual's abilities and self-confidence. 

A mentor is someone who shares their knowledge, skills and/or experience, to help another to develop and grow.

Mentoring is a relationship-based approach in which an experienced and knowledgeable colleague (mentor) shares their insights, wisdom, and expertise with less-experienced individuals (mentees) in the field of aged care. The mentor provides guidance, advice, and a supportive environment for the mentee's growth and development. Mentoring typically involves a more long-term, informal relationship that aims to help the mentee navigate their role, overcome challenges, and gain a broader perspective in the field. 

Take a look at this Mentoring scenario:

Maria, an experienced support worker, offers her mentorship to Teuila, who is relatively new to the field and tasked with caring for clients with complex needs. The mentoring relationship is personalised and ongoing, with no set time limit. Teuila drives the relationship, reaching out to Maria whenever she encounters challenges or requires guidance. 

For example, Teuila is assigned to care for a client with complex medical conditions, and she feels overwhelmed. She contacts Maria for guidance. Maria shares her experiences and insights, providing Teuila with valuable advice on how to prioritise care tasks, communicate with the client, and ensure the client's comfort and well-being. Their relationship is informal, and they interact whenever Teuila needs support or mentorship. The focus of their interactions is on Teuila's holistic professional development, gaining insights into aged care for clients with complex needs. 

Now, here is a Coaching scenario:

In this coaching scenario, Michael, a support worker, seeks coaching from manager Tamati to enhance his performance in providing personal care to clients with complex needs. The coaching relationship is structured and has a specific duration, often focused on improving targeted development areas or addressing performance issues related to personal care for clients with complex needs. 

The facility has identified that Michael's assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) and personal care can be improved. Tamati, as Michael's coach, designs a coaching plan with a clear timeline. They schedule regular meetings to review Michael's performance in personal care assistance, particularly focusing on areas such as client transfers and mobility support. 

For instance, in one of their coaching sessions, Tamati reviews Michael's recent interactions with clients who require specialised personal care due to their complex needs. He observes that Michael could improve his approach to transferring clients from the bed to a wheelchair safely. Tamati provides specific feedback on proper transfer techniques, ensuring that the clients' mobility and safety needs are addressed comprehensively. Performance is measured against specific standards related to personal care in the aged care facility, with a focus on improving specific aspects of personal care assistance. 

Reflection

Use the documentation tool to answer the reflection question provided.

Watch 

Watch this video explaining the value of the Ministry of Social Development Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora’s mentoring programme. Take note of the benefits they gained from the mentoring programme. 

Inclusive Workplace - Ministry of Social Development Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora from Diversity Works NZ on Vimeo.

The benefits of mentoring and coaching include: 

1. Skill development: Both coaching and mentoring play a crucial role in helping individuals improve their skills and knowledge. They provide guidance and support to bridge gaps in expertise and enhance performance in various areas, leading to personal and professional growth
2. Knowledge transfer: Experienced coaches and mentors possess valuable insights and wisdom gained from their own experiences. By sharing this knowledge, they help mentees and coachees avoid common pitfalls and make more informed decisions
3. Personalised guidance: Coaching and mentoring offer personalised attention tailored to the needs and goals of each individual. This one-on-one approach allows for targeted development, ensuring that specific challenges are addressed effectively
4. Confidence building: Having a supportive mentor or coach can boost a person's self-confidence and self-esteem. Encouragement and positive reinforcement go a long way in empowering individuals to take on new challenges and overcome obstacles
5. Career advancement: Guidance from mentors and coaches can be instrumental in career progression. They can offer insights into industry trends, open doors to new opportunities, and provide professional networking contacts
6. Performance improvement: By identifying areas that require improvement, coaches and mentors help individuals enhance their performance, leading to increased productivity and effectiveness in their roles
7. Emotional support: Both coaching and mentoring provide a safe space for mentees and coachees to express their concerns, fears, and aspirations. The emotional support offered by these relationships can be invaluable during times of stress or uncertainty
8. Leadership development: For aspiring leaders, mentoring and coaching can be particularly beneficial. They can help cultivate essential leadership qualities, such as communication, decision-making, and conflict resolution skills
9. Long-term impact: The knowledge and skills gained through coaching and mentoring have a lasting impact on an individual's professional journey. These benefits often extend beyond the immediate mentoring or coaching period
10. Organisational growth: In the context of organisations, coaching and mentoring contribute to creating a supportive and nurturing work environment. This, in turn, can lead to higher employee satisfaction, retention, and overall organisational success. 

Activity - Match the description

Peer support is an approach to workplace well-being that uses the strengths and abilities of motivated staff to assist co-workers in different aspects of their role, particularly the challenging aspects of the role.  

In this context, peer support refers to co-workers who share common experiences and challenges when providing care for individuals with complex needs. The types of support a person might need, or is able to provide, includes; emotional, informational, and social assistance to one another.  

By learning from their peers, co-workers can develop a sense of belonging, trust, and support, as well as gain recognition and appreciation for their skills and contributions. 

Here's a closer look at how peer support operates within the framework of caring for people with complex needs: 

1. Shared Understanding and Empathy: Peer support relies on the idea that individuals who have faced similar challenges and complexities in caregiving can provide unique insights and empathetic understanding to one another. When supporting individuals with complex needs, fellow support workers may have firsthand experience with the difficulties and emotional toll that can accompany such care. This shared understanding forms the basis of effective peer support. 
2. Emotional Support: Caring for individuals with complex needs can be emotionally taxing. Peer support allows caregivers to share their emotional burdens, fears, and frustrations with their colleagues who can relate. Through active listening and offering empathetic responses, peer support provides a safe space for emotional expression and helps prevent burnout. 
3. Information Exchange: The nature of complex needs often requires specialised knowledge and continuous learning. Peers can exchange information, best practices, and tips for providing care effectively. This sharing of knowledge is invaluable for staying up-to-date with the latest caregiving techniques and providing the highest quality of care. 
4. Problem-Solving: Caregivers often face unique and unexpected challenges when caring for individuals with complex needs. Peer support serves as a platform for problem-solving, where support workers can collaborate to find innovative solutions to challenges they encounter in their daily care routines. 
5. Building Resilience: Interacting with peers who have successfully navigated complex caregiving situations can bolster the resilience and confidence of support workers. By learning from others' experiences, caregivers can gain the confidence to tackle challenging situations and provide better care. 

Scenario and Reflection

Meet Hana and Lance, two support workers at the Lakecrest Aged Care Facility. They have been providing care for residents, including Mariameno, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer in addition to her long-standing battle with Parkinson's disease. Mariameno is of Māori descent, and she is deeply connected to her culture. 

Mariameno has been in their care for several years, and her condition has always been challenging, but she is held in high regard by both Hana and Lance. 

One day, they receive the news that Mariameno's cancer is terminal. Hana, being less experienced, is unsure of how to provide the best support. Lance, who has been through similar situations before, is more experienced in handling these challenges. 

Hana: (to Lance) "Lance, I just heard about Mariameno's diagnosis. It's a tough situation. I'm not entirely sure how to handle it.” 

Lance: "I understand, Hana. I've faced this before, and I'm here to help. We'll get through this together. I can share my knowledge and experiences to help us provide the best care." 

Recognising the need for mutual support and their respective strengths, they collaborate to ensure the best care for Mariameno. They also acknowledge the importance of respecting Mariameno's Māori heritage and cultural needs. 

Hana: "Let's work together to ensure we provide the best care for Mariameno. Your experience can guide us clinically, and I'll focus on honouring her Māori heritage." 

Lance: "Sounds like a plan, Hana.  

As Mariameno's condition progresses, Hana and Lance continue to provide compassionate, clinically sound, and culturally sensitive care, with the shared goal of making her remaining time as comfortable as possible while respecting her Māori heritage. 

There are a range of skills that you need before you can become an effective coach or mentor. While some of these are obvious (such as active listening), others you may not have thought of. Becoming aware of the necessary skills and working on them can both improve your practice and help you to achieve personal growth.  

Activity

Before we look at the skills needed to be an effective mentor or coach, take a moment to brainstorm and write down the skills you think make a good mentor or coach. You can compare your notes to the skills listed below. How many did you get that were similar?  

We have looked at the differences between coaching and mentoring but the skills required for both are the same. These skills are as follows: 

Now you know the skills needed to be a great mentor or coach to your peers, take some time to look at each skill and relate them to your ability in the skill.  Use the quiz below.  

Activity - Self-Reflection

Now you know the skills needed to be a great peer mentor or coach, take some time to read the questions below and reflect on your own skills.  

Note: there are no right or wrong answers, and no results will be displayed. This simply gives you an opportunity to consider your strengths in this area. 

Coaching and mentoring models provide structured frameworks for guiding the coaching and mentoring process. Here are some commonly used coaching and mentoring models: 

The Grow Model

This model is based on four principles: 

1. Goal - establishing the goal of coaching 
2. Reality - examining the current situation to understand the starting point and how to reach the goal effectively
3. Options - exploring options for reaching the goal and identifying obstacles 
4. Will - establishing a desire to achieve the goal and committing to specific actions.

Click here to learn more about the GROW Model of Coaching by exploring this website which contains a wealth of resources such as videos and tips for using the GROW Model of Coaching -  model of coaching.

The OSKAR Model  

This model has five steps:  

1. Outcome,  
2. Scaling 
3. Know-how And resources 
4. Affirm and action  
5. Review 

WACTH ‘Introducing the ‘OSKAR’ coaching model’ and think about how you can apply it in your role as a support worker. 

Activity - Research

Take some time to research mentoring and coaching approaches.

In the context of aged care in New Zealand, the implementation of coaching and mentoring within the framework of working with clients with complex needs is a significant step towards ensuring the highest quality of care and support. It’s important to reflect on the impact and benefits of integrating coaching and mentoring strategies into your professional practice. 

Support workers with coaching and mentoring skills can empower themselves and also guide and motivate their peers. The transfer of knowledge, experience, and expertise from one support worker to other helps create a culture of continuous learning and development within the aged care sector. 

Remember you can inspire and motivate people through various means, such as: 

• Empowering actions: Empower individuals by entrusting them with responsibility for their work, decisions, and behaviour
• Effective communication: Communication is vital within any organization, ensuring that everyone is aware of each other's activities and promoting the exchange of information, ideas, and instructions. Good leadership hinges on effective communication
• Respectful treatment: Treat others with respect, mirroring the way you would like to be treated. Encourage others to share their ideas and opinions, and attentively listen before presenting your own
• Recognition: Acknowledge achievements and commend a job well done to reinforce desired actions and behaviours that you wish to see repeated
• Positive feedback: Instead of criticizing or being overly critical, provide constructive feedback. Positive feedback can help individuals improve their performance, reinforce positive habits, address areas that need correction or improvement, and highlight special skills and accomplishments. 

As you embark on your professional journey, remember that your role as a mentor or coach is not just about passing on knowledge; it's about shaping the future of aged care, one compassionate and well-informed support worker at a time. Your dedication to this cause makes a big difference in the lives of the elderly and their families, contributing to a brighter and more supportive future for aged care in New Zealand.