“Peer Support Services for the Health and Wellness Needs of People with Mental Health Challenges”
(2019-2021)
People with serious mental health challenges get sick and die 15 years earlier than same-aged peers. They show especially high rates of infectious disease and respiratory disorder such that health risks are further threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. One reason is a fragmented health system where limited resources are distributed across large geographic areas. Peer support specialists are persons in recovery who use their lived experience to enhance health services. They assist people in the hands-on tasks of making and accompanying people to appointments, so they are better engaged in care. Limitations in cultural competence undermine engagement in physical health care as well. Mortality for people with serious mental illness is even worse when they are of color or have low income. In addition to being people in recovery, peer support specialists are selected from the same ethnic group and communities as service participants. Their shared experience bridge interpersonal and instrumental barriers to accomplishing the health and wellness goals of service participants. This presentation was developed by a dissemination team of people in recovery and is supported through a grant awarded by Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). This presentation will review 1) health and wellness among people with mental health challenges; 2) benefits of peer support services; 3) summary of PCORI outcome research on peer services; and 4) implementation for peer support services. The presentation has been updated to consider the health challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Session participants will benefit by receiving practical guidelines on setting up these programs (including service manuals) and learning ways to engage policymakers in supporting these kinds of services.
This study is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). For more information contact Project Lead, Sang Qin, at sqin7@iit.edu