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PEER SUPPORT

AMPUTEES NSW PEER SUPPORT

Living with limb loss or limb difference is a big change — for you, your family, and your everyday life. You don’t have to navigate it alone. Amputees NSW provides a structured, informed peer support program, developed in partnership with NSW Health, allied professionals and guided by deep lived experience.

NSW represents over 30% of Australia’s amputee population, and annual amputations, and our program is designed to meet that scale — reaching people in major hospitals, regional communities, and, when needed, across Australia.

What is Peer Support

Peer support connects you with someone who has walked a similar path — another amputee or person with limb difference who understands the physical, emotional, and social impact of amputation.

  • Understanding and encouragement: Support from someone who “gets it” because they’ve been there.
  • Practical information: Tips for rehab, prosthetics, pain, daily living, work, and community life.
  • Emotional support: A safe space to talk about fear, grief, identity, and hope.

Peer support is not clinical care and it’s more than just kindness — it’s structured, purposeful support that complements your medical and allied health team.

A Structured Program

Our peer support is a structure program, delivered in collaboration with NSW Health services and Local Health Districts (LHDs). This means:

  • Safe and supported: Peer interactions are coordinated alongside clinical teams, with clear boundaries and referral pathways.
  • Integrated with care: Peer support can be introduced during acute hospital stays, rehabilitation, and community follow‑up.
  • Quality and consistency: Volunteers are trained, supported, and guided by program standards and lived experience frameworks.

We work closely with hospital social work, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, prosthetics, and rehabilitation teams to ensure peer support is timely, appropriate, and aligned with your care plan.

Matching You With The Right Peer

When you request peer support, we aim to connect you with a peer who is as relevant to your situation as possible. We consider:

  • Type and level of limb loss or difference
  • Age and life stage
  • Rural, regional or metro context
  • Specific goals or concerns (e.g. returning to work, parenting, sport, pain, body image)

Where possible, we match you with someone whose experience is similar to yours, while also ensuring they are trained and supported to provide safe, constructive peer support.

How You Can Connect With Peer Support

We offer multiple ways to connect, so support is accessible wherever you live.

  • Face‑to‑face visits
    • In hospital: Acute and rehab wards across NSW, coordinated with your treating team.
    • In the community: Outpatient settings, rehab centres, and agreed community locations.
  • Telephone support
    • Scheduled calls with a trained peer volunteer.
    • Ideal for people in regional and remote areas, or those who prefer voice‑only contact.
  • Virtual support (online)
    • Video calls and online sessions for individuals or small groups.
    • Accessible from anywhere in NSW — and available nationally for people who wish to connect with NSW‑based peers or programs.

Our program is accessible nationally: while our core focus is NSW, we welcome referrals and connections from other states and territories, particularly where people may benefit from our structured model or specific expertise.

Peer Navigators: Lived Experience Embedded in the Care Pathway

Peer Navigators are experienced amputees or people with Limb Loss who take on an extended, more integrated role within the health systems. They are not clinicians — but they work alongside clinical and support teams to bring lived experience into every stage of care.

Key roles of Peer Navigators:

  • Closer support in the acute pathway
    • Meeting patients and families early — often pre‑ or post‑
    • Helping people understand what life after amputation can look like, beyond the hospital stay.
  • Supporting the multidisciplinary team (MDT)
    • Working with LHD and hospital MDTs, including Social Work, OT, Physio, Prosthetics, Rehabilitation Medicine and Nursing.
    • Providing lived experience insights to inform discharge planning, rehab goals, and community transition.
  • Lived experience process expertise
    • Helping teams design patient‑centred pathways that reflect real‑world challenges and opportunities.
    • Identifying gaps in information, support, and community connection — and co‑creating solutions.
  • Extending into community and provider networks
    • Linking patients to community‑based allied health, prosthetic providers, NDIS supports, and local services.
    • Staying connected as people move from hospital to home, rehab, work, and community life.

Peer Navigators help ensure that amputees are not just “discharged”—they are supported through a journey, with lived experience embedded in the system around them.

Amp Connect: Support Groups Across Australia

Beyond one‑to‑one peer support, Amputees NSW hosts Amp Connect support groups—regular opportunities to connect with others, share experiences, and build community.

  • Regional NSW groups
    • Local meet‑ups and group sessions in key regional centres.
    • Space to talk about rural and regional realities—travel, access to services, isolation, and community strengths.
  • Metro NSW groups
    • Groups in metropolitan areas, including Sydney and major urban hubs.
    • Mix of in‑person and online formats to suit different access and comfort levels.

Amp Connect groups may include:

  • Peer‑led discussions on topics like pain, prosthetics, mental health, work, sport, and family life.
  • Guest speakers from health, prosthetics, NDIS, and community organisations.
  • Social connection—because sometimes the most powerful support is simply being in a room (or on a screen) with people who understand.

How to Request Peer Support

You can request peer support for yourself, a family member, or a patient:

  • Patients and families: via our online request form or by contacting Amputees NSW directly (1800 810 969)
  • Health professionals: via referral pathways developed with NSW Health and LHDs, or by contacting our Peer Support team to discuss the best fit.

We’ll talk with you about your needs, match you with an appropriate peer or Peer Navigator, and agree on the best way to connect — face‑to‑face, telephone, or virtual.