Keeping the Peer in Peer Specialist When Implementing Evidence-Based Interventions

Abstract

Peer specialists can be found in many fields. They are people with lived experiences of a range of conditions who support others with similar conditions. In this Practice Forum column, we focus on peers with lived experiences of mental illness who are trained to provide support to others with these conditions (Salzer, Katz, Kidwell, Federici, & Ward-Colasante, 2009). Research suggests that evidence-based interventions (EBIs) delivered by peers can improve health outcomes (for example, dietary habits, smoking, communication with doctor) among people with serious mental illness (SMI) (Cabassa, Camacho, Vélez-Grau, & Stefancic, 2017; Chinman et al., 2014). It has been proposed that sharing lived experiences of mental health, treatment, and recovery; engaging in role modeling; and providing support rooted in personal knowledge are some of the unique strengths that peers bring to mental health services (Blash, Chan, & Chapman, 2015; Chinman et al., 2014; Davidson, Chinman, Sells, & Rowe, 2006). Training and support for peers are necessary for the success of peer-delivered interventions; however, there are concerns about the potential for training to overemphasize technical proficiency at the expense of the unique contributions of the peers (Walker & Bryant, 2013). Despite this information on intervention training, ongoing support for peer specialists is generally lacking and omits discussion of how trainings balance standardized intervention delivery with unique aspects of a peer approach. For example, studies of peers delivering health interventions to people with SMI are often limited to cursory descriptions of the type of manual or intervention, training duration, topics covered, supervision, and field requirements (Cabassa et al., 2017).