Exploring New Frontiers: Recovery-Oriented Peer Support Programming in a Psychiatric ED

Abstract

Enhancing the diversity of roles for paid peer-support specialists is a topic of increasing interest throughout the country. Peer specialist positions promote a renewed sense of hope for the possibility of recovery, while also offering unique and valuable competitive employment options for mental health consumers. As we strive toward local and national recovery-oriented systems of care, we must continue to explore practical program applications and their associated benefits and challenges. The authors describe the development and implementation of a recovery-oriented peer support team within the psychiatric service of an emergency department (psychiatric ED) located at an academic medical center in a northeastern state.