Peer support and recovery: Insights from peer support workers, patients, and non-peer professionals

Kirsten JOHANSEN1,2, Birgitte LERBÆK1, Alice Kathrine BURHOLT1, Mike SLADE3,4, Stynke CASTELEIN5,6, Rikke JØRGENSEN1,7

1Unit for Psychiatric Research, Aalborg University Hospital – Psychiatry, Aalborg, Denmark , Aalborg, Denmark
2Unit for Forensic Research, Mental Health Department Middelfart, Psychiatry, Region of Southern Denmark, Middelfart, Denmark
3School of Health Sciences, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, , Nottingham, United Kingdom
4Nord University, Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Health and Community Participation Division, Namsos, Norway
5Lentis Research, Lentis Psychiatric Institute, Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
6Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
7Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg , Aalborg, Denmark

Abstract

In September 2020 peer support workers were employed in eight new FACT teams in mental health services in the North Denmark Region. The peer support workers were all paid workers in permanent positions, employed 20 h pr. week working alongside the non-peer professionals in the teams.

Shortly hereafter, a 4-year research program “Peer Support and Recovery 2021 - 2024” was initiated with the overall purpose to investigate peer support and recovery from the perspectives of the peer support workers, non-peer professionals and patients.

The overall design for the research program was exploratory using qualitative and quantitative methods. The peer support workers were interviewed shortly after employment and again after two years about their recovery process, their motivation for becoming a peer support worker and the peer support worker role. The non-peer professionals were interviewed right after employment of the peer support workers and two years later about implementation of FACT, understanding of recovery, attitudes towards peer support and peer support workers. Selected patients were interviewed about their experiences receiving peer support; and all patients were invited to participate in a longitudinal study investigating personal recovery over time.

The presentation will report on the most important findings from each perspective and also touch on preliminary results from ongoing analysis of the recently collected data.