Scopes of practice

Support workers are the largest workforce group in mental health and addiction services. As a workforce that is not regulated, they are not required to have a scope of practice. Support workers are based in a broad range of services and settings and there is a wide variation in understanding of support work role. As a result the question is often asked whether a scope of practice would be useful for the ongoing development of this workforce.

This literature review aims to inform discussions with mental health and addiction services about the relevance of a scope of practice. It defines scopes and their features, provides examples from overseas, and discusses how a scope might be developed.

Key findings are that a support worker scope of practice:

• defines the workforce, its settings, practices, and methods
• includes role descriptions, values, and competencies
• does not require a professional body
• is generally developed for support workers and lived experience workers using grassroots, consensus building approaches.

The Consumer, Peer Support, and Lived Experience Workforce Action Plan, Action 2.4 describes the intention to develop scopes of practice for the CPSLE workforce. Scopes of practice will support role clarity and advocate for CPSLE roles in the workforce.

This literature review informs the implementation of this project. It builds on our understanding of scopes of practice literature and identifies overseas examples relevant to the CPSLE workforce. It specifically looks how examples of how CPSLE scopes of practice:

• apply to multiple workforce roles and present career pathways
• compare with Aotearoa New Zealand CPSLE competencies and related values
• are structured and their content
• are developed and do these use similar processes to scopes for support workers?

Work is now beginning on the development of scopes of practice for the CPSLE workforce in Aotearoa New Zealand. For more information, please contact Amanda Luckman, Lived Experience Project Lead.