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Lived Experience
Peer Mentor Program
The EDQ Peer Mentor Program (PMP) takes place twice per calendar year and aims to supports people who are recovering from eating issues. In each program a selection of mentors will provide support for the mentee over a period of five to six months; a commitment to regular mentoring contact agreed to by the mentor and mentee for the duration of the program. Mentors are required to attend comprehensive training delivered by
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our PMP coordinator and participate in monthly one-on-one supervision to provide an avenue to discuss their mentorship and boundaries, ensuring they remain safe throughout the program. The design and structure of the Peer Mentor Program is based on best practice national and international standards from other mentoring programs. Eating Issues Practitioner Emily acted as coordinator throughout the two programs.
Speaker Program
EDQ coordinates a number of speakers with lived experience of an eating disorder, who are now a minimum of two years recovered. Speakers are offered the opportunity to speak about their recovery journey at a variety of events and settings through the community, enabling them to provide support, understanding, and hope to a wide range of audiences. Throughout this financial year, EDQ arranged for speakers to attend a variety of events, including GP training sessions, conferences, carer support groups, peer support groups, hospital visits, and radio programs. Each year this program grows, and we thank the generosity of every person involved for offering both their time, and their personal experiences.
Training/Education
EDQ offers workshops and training sessions, in order to help educate both professionals and the community about eating disorders. Throughout this financial year, staff members prepared and delivered training sessions for Primary Health Networks, university classes, and schools. They also held stalls at several events, in order to increase awareness and education about eating disorders throughout our community. As with our other services, this is an area of growth for EDQ and we expect to be delivering many more presentations throughout 2019 and 2020.
