This interactive workshop explores how peer support complements clinical care by bridging professional services and lived experience. Facilitated by the CMHO Family Partnerships team and specially trained volunteer peer support facilitators, participants will learn how PCMH’s family-led program enhances capacity and outcomes for children, youth, and families. 

The session will show how PCMH peer support groups can be integrated into partner and member agencies as a ready-to-implement service, with CMHO providing coordination, training, and infrastructure. This model fosters shared ownership, reduces duplication, and strengthens system coordination across the province, enabling agencies to draw on more than 30 years of proven experience in peer support and family engagement without developing new programs from the ground up. 

Participants will take part in guided activities to identify actionable, context-specific steps and leave with practical tools and implementation plans to strengthen peer support and family engagement within their organization.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand how peer support complements clinical care through CMHO’s family partnerships program, Parents & Caregivers for Mental Health (PCMH).   

2. Identify tangible strategies for integrating family and caregiver engagement within their organization or clinical setting.   

3. Explore how to collaborate with CMHO to embed existing PCMH peer support programs into agency service delivery models.