Six Strategies for Coordination Between Peer Support Specialists and Community-Based Peer Support Groups

Peer support groups, also described as self-help, mutual-aid, or mutual-help groups, refer to a group of people who gather together to talk about shared problems or experiences and to provide informal support to each other.  The network of peer support groups is huge.  There are more visits each year to peer support groups than there are to healthcare providers (Kessler, Mickelson, & Zhao, 1997). 

 There are national and international networks of peer support groups that help people struggling with mental health and substance use disorders, medical disorders like cancer and diabetes, problem behaviors like gambling or overeating, and life problems like loss and bereavement or difficulties in parenting.  Participation in peer support groups has been associated with improvement in the target problem (e.g. drinking or depression) but also in larger improvements in social support, mental health and overall confidence (Drebing et al., 2018; Smit, Miguel, Vrijsen, Groeneweg, Spijker, & Cuijpers, 2023).

 Many Peer Support Specialists have personal experience participating in, or even leading peer support groups, and some regularly refer clients to those groups.  Many do not.  There is an opportunity to strengthen the work of both Peer Support Specialists and Peer Support Groups by working toward more strategic collaboration.  Several key strategies to consider:

 1.  Assume that your healthcare or social service organization is not currently collaborating or even recognizing the local peer support group opportunities for their clients.  Healthcare providers often have very limited knowledge of the large network of peer support groups that could help their clients.  Because of their lack of knowledge, they often underestimate the need for and value of these groups.  You may well need to build interest and even provide some leadership in the effort to increase collaboration between your organization and the large array of community-based peer support groups.

2. Peer Support Specialists should visit and get to know at least some of the more popular peer support groups in their local area.  This will help them refer and introduce clients to those groups.  They will want to visit different types of groups, depending on the common needs of the clients they serve. 

 3.     Facilitators of peer support groups may want to seek out and meet with Peer Support Specialists at local facilities.  They may become good sources of referrals to the group.  They may also accept referrals from the group when the facilitator finds attendees who need additional supports.

 4.     Peer Support Specialists and/or facilitators of peer support groups may want to develop educational opportunities for clinicians to learn more about the ways that peer support can enhance the health and outcomes of their clients.  Many clinicians are not taught about the value of peer support and would be willing to refer and collaborate if they learn of ways it can help their clients.

 5.     Peer Support Specialists and facilitators of peer support groups have a lot in common, and may want to collaborate in ways to make their own work easier.  Regular meetings to talk about the challenges of this work can be very helpful for reducing burnout.  Shared headaches often reduce the associated stress while shared successes multiply the sense of progress.

 6.     Peer Support Specialists may advocate with their healthcare organization to better integrate community-based peer support groups into their organizations.   Researchers have found that when community-based peer support groups like AA are integrated into clinical treatment, the result is better success rates and reduced cost to the healthcare organization (Humphreys, & Moos, 2007).  Healthcare organizations need to know about these important benefits. Peer Support Specialists could also help find ways for peer support groups to meet at healthcare facilities, making it easier for clients to meet people from those community-based support groups and to continue meeting with them after formal treatment is completed.

 REFERENCES

Drebing, C.E., Reilly, E., Henze, K.T., Kelley, M., Russo, A., Smolinsky, J., Gorman J., & Penk, W.E. (2018). Using Peer Support and Self-Help Groups to Enhance Community Integration of Veterans in Transition. Psychological Services, 15(2), 135-145.

 Humphreys, K., & Moos, R. H. (2007). Encouraging posttreatment self-help group involvement to reduce demand for continuing care services: two-year clinical and utilization outcomes. Focus, 5(2), 193-198.

 Kessler, R. C., Mickelson, K. D., & Zhao, S. (1997). Patterns and correlates of self-help group membership in the United States. Social Policy, 27(3).

 Smit, D., Miguel, C., Vrijsen, J. N., Groeneweg, B., Spijker, J., & Cuijpers, P. (2023). The effectiveness of peer support for individuals with mental illness: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 53(11), 5332-5341.

KEY WORDS: Peer Support Specialist, Recovery, Peer Support Groups, Self-Help Groups, Peer Support Training, Peer Support Certification, Peer Support Jobs