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Cited by 522Mental Health and Patient InvolvementPsychiatric care and mental health servicesFamily Caregiving in Mental Illness

Peer Support in Mental Health: Literature Review

Open access
Shalaby, Reham A Hameed, Agyapong, Vincent I O·2020·JMIR Mental Health
DOI 10.2196/15572PMC PMC7312261

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Abstract

Background: A growing gap has emerged between people with mental illness and health care professionals, which in recent years has been successfully closed through the adoption of peer support services (PSSs). Peer support in mental health has been variously defined in the literature and is simply known as the help and support that people with lived experience of mental illness or a learning disability can give to one another. Although PSSs date back to several centuries, it is only in the last few decades that these services have formally evolved, grown, and become an integral part of the health care system. Debates around peer support in mental health have been raised frequently in the literature. Although many authors have emphasized the utmost importance of incorporating peer support into the health care system to instill hope; to improve engagement, quality of life, self-confidence, and integrity; and to reduce the burden on the health care system, other studies suggest that there are neutral effects from integrating PSSs into health care systems, with a probable waste of resources. Objective: In this general review, we aimed to examine the literature, exploring the evolution, growth, types, function, generating tools, evaluation, challenges, and the effect of PSSs in the field of mental health and addiction. In addition, we aimed to describe PSSs in different, nonexhaustive contexts, as shown in the literature, that aims to draw attention to the proposed values of PSSs in such fields. Methods: The review was conducted through a general search of the literature on MEDLINE, Google Scholar, EMBASE, Scopus, Chemical Abstracts, and PsycINFO. Search terms included peer support, peer support in mental health, social support, peer, family support, and integrated care. Results: There is abundant literature defining and describing PSSs in different contexts as well as tracking their origins. Two main transformational concepts have been described, namely, intentional peer support and transformation from patients to peer support providers. The effects of PSSs are extensive and integrated into different fields, such as forensic PSSs, addiction, and mental health, and in different age groups and mental health condition severity. Satisfaction of and challenges to PSS integration have been clearly dependent on a number of factors and consequently impact the future prospect of this workforce. Conclusions: There is an internationally growing trend to adopt PSSs within addiction and mental health services, and despite the ongoing challenges, large sections of the current literature support the inclusion of peer support workers in the mental health care workforce. The feasibility and maintenance of a robust PSS in health care would only be possible through collaborative efforts and ongoing support and engagement from all health care practitioners, managers, and other stakeholders.

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  • Involvement of individuals with similar lived experience as clients, such as peer support services, is increasingly recognized as a potentially powerful task-sharing strategy to increase acceptability and help clients navigate and resist sources and drivers of stigma.

    “In particular, the involvement of individuals with similar lived experience as the clients (e.g., peer support services) is increasingly recognized as a potentially powerful task-sharing strategy to both increase the acceptability of the intervention for clients and help them navigate and resist sources and drivers of stigma [92, 93].”

    From Barriers and facilitators to implementation of evidence-based task-sharing mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review using implementation science frameworks (2022) · cites this paper as [93]

    The Results sections on novel technology and disadvantaged subgroups report that peer support can help people with serious mental illness fight stigma and that some peer-delivered interventions are acceptable. The Future of Peer Support Services section calls peer support a growing paradigm. The paper does not establish that involving peers increases the acceptability of the cited intervention or specifically frame their role as a task-sharing strategy that helps clients navigate the sources and drivers of stigma. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [52]Best DW Lubman DI The recovery paradigm - a model of hope and change for alcohol and drug addiction Aust Fam Physician 2012 8 41 8 593 7 23145400 23145400
  2. [122]Gill K New Moves: Targeting physical and mental illness well-being in people with mental illness Health Issues J 2012 108 1 18 23 10.13140/2.1.3918.1447 · DOI

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Authors
Shalaby, R. A. H., & Agyapong, V. I. O.
Affiliations
University of Alberta (CA)
Corresponding author
Shalaby, Reham A Hameed
ORCID
Venue
JMIR Mental Health
Publisher
JMIR Publications Inc.
Published
2020-06-09
Volume
7
Issue
6
Pages
e15572
ISSN
2368-7959 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2196/15572
PMC
PMC7312261
OpenAlex
W3006370585
Cited by
522
References
113
Citations by year
2026: 75 · 2025: 125 · 2024: 127 · 2023: 81 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 3 · 2014: 1
FWCI
9.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • JMIR Mental Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Alberta Health Services
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mental Health and Patient Involvement
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family Caregiving in Mental Illness
Keywords
peer support services, peer support workers, lived experience of mental illness, mental health care workforce, addiction services, forensic mental health, social support, family support

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