Peer-led initiatives are set up with little or no funding by people who have accessed (or, in some cases, have struggled to access) treatment and support. This means they are built on local assets and developed in response to community needs, by the community (see definition of asset-based community development in the glossary). Offer a culture of recovery Some recent peer support research has focused on harm reduction, widening access to opioid substitution treatment and digital innovations. This has been largely driven by the opioid crisis in North America and the need to find effective ways to reduce harm and prevent death. This research has focused on peer support roles that:

Research has identified ongoing support including positive connections and engagement with peers as particularly important in early recovery (Best and others, 2017). Factors influencing recovery The intensity, duration and type of recovery support people require at different stages differs between individuals (Best and others, 2019). authenticity of voice: this means that RCOs exist to represent the recovery community. This includes actively involving all members of the recovery community Peer-led initiatives help people to develop a new identity, social network and life, offering an alternative to problem alcohol and drug use. Agile and innovativeSince peer-led initiatives are likely to have multiple funding streams including contracts, grants and donations, they have more autonomy than other service providers. Their independence and autonomy are vital to their ability to respond, evolve and advocate effectively. Take an asset-based community development approach Also, the existing guidance focuses on peer support, self-help, community support networks and mutual aid for people in treatment and in early recovery. The focus of this guidance is on support for people who are at any stage of recovery, including people who have never accessed treatment. These standards will help lived experience initiatives and system partners to identify what stage of development they are at and how they want to develop further. CLERO has developed a map of LERO provision in the UK and Ireland. References personal capital: examples of this include safe and secure accommodation, physical and mental health and wellbeing, and opportunities to develop skills and experience such as employment, training and education

The dotted lines around each circle signify that it should be easy for a person to access any of these specialist services at any time, and that the services should work together to support people to access other specialist and non-specialist alcohol and drug services that would benefit them. How specialist and non-specialist services work together to deliver recovery-oriented care Maria Paulowna, Grand Duchess, consort of Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, 1786-1859 1Focusing on metalworking from 1400–1800 CE, Smith looks at the nature of craft knowledge and skill, studying present-day and historical practices, objects, recipes, and artisanal manuals. From these sources, she considers how we can reconstruct centuries of largely lost knowledge. In doing so, she aims not only to unearth the techniques, material processes, and embodied experience of the past but also to gain insight into the lifeworld of artisans and their understandings of matter.

a range of non-structured interventions that run alongside or after structured treatment and are designed to reinforce the gains made in structured treatment and improve the client’s quality of life in general. Recovery support can include mutual aid and peer support, practical help such as housing or employment support. Peer-led initiatives use their extensive networks to get a deep understanding of the problems associated with alcohol and drug use and people’s experiences of treatment and recovery. This means they can speak and advocate for recovery communities. Involving and supporting families In peer support groups, people can help each other to sustain their individual recovery and strengthen their sense of purpose and direction. This can happen informally and organically with friends and family members, or formally through projects or services as volunteers or workers (Humphreys, 2004). Engaging in meaningful activity

The field of medieval studies offers a few useful terms. One is ‘orthopraxis’ (practice according to a rule or tradition, in the sense of ‘making straight’), thought to have been coined by Raimon Pannikar and used by Paul Gehl and Mary Carruthers in their studies of monasticism. In her book The Craft of Thought (1998), Carruthers writes: ‘Any craft develops an orthopraxis, a craft “knowledge” which is learned, and indeed can only be learned, by the painstaking practical imitation and complete familiarisation of exemplary masters’ techniques and experience. Most of this knowledge cannot be set down in words; it must be learned by practising, over and over again.’ Binski enlists the classics: ‘When it comes to making something, the matter to hand is always shaped by hard knowledge (‘episteme’, Latin ‘scientia’), talent (‘empeiria’) and method (‘techne’ or ‘ars’).’ The most subtle of these, scientia, he defines as knowledge of the ‘whys’ of method, a more complex form of comprehension than the ‘hows’. Peer-led communities, services and supports offer people recovery support in the long term. It is hard to imagine an effective recovery-oriented system of care without any peer-led services and supports. Social networks that support recovery are seen as particularly important due to the ‘social contagion of hope’ (Best and Lubman, 2012) and the related idea that ‘recovery is contagious’ (Moos and Moos, 2007). Learning from other people in recovery and connecting with them is associated with improved recovery outcomes. RSS primarily support people to sustain their recovery in the community long term. These services help people to build on their strengths including the gains made in treatment if they have accessed it. This includes support to deepen their connection to recovery communities and wider community. Language used to describe terms related to lived experience can be inconsistent and confusing. So we have defined 2 main relevant terms below. Other terms used in this guidance are defined in the glossary. Lived experience initiatives