Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other.Shery Mead, David Hilton, Laurie Curtis, "Peer Support: A Theoretical Perspective." It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters (although it can be provided by peers without training), and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, reflective listening (reflecting content and/or feelings), or counseling. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, as equals to give each other connection and support on a reciprocal basis.
Peer support is distinct from other forms of social support in that the source of support is a peer, a person who is similar in fundamental ways to the recipient of the support; their relationship is one of equality. A peer is in a position to offer support by virtue of relevant experience: he or she has "been there, done that" and can relate to others who are now in a similar situation. Trained peer support workers such as peer support specialists and peer counselors receive special training and are required to obtain Continuing Education Units, like clinical staff. Some other trained peer support workers may also be law-enforcement personnel and firefighters as well as emergency medical responders The social peer support also offers an online system of distributed expertise, interactivity, social distance and control, which may promote disclosure of personal problems (Paterson, Brewer, & Leeseberg, 2013).
Underlying theory Peer support has been shown to be effective in substance use and related behaviour, treatment engagement, and ameliorating risk behaviours associated with HIV and hepatitis C, and empowering people with mental illness and improving their quality of life. Its effectiveness is believed to derive from a variety of psychosocial processes first described by Mark Salzer and colleagues in 2002:. social support, experiential knowledge, social learning theory, social comparison theory, the helper-therapy principle, and self-determination theory.
Social support is the existence of positive psychosocial interactions with others with whom there is mutual trust and concern. Positive relationships contribute to positive adjustment and buffer against stressors and adversities by offering (a) emotional support (esteem, attachment, and reassurance), (b) instrumental support (material goods and services), (c) companionship and (d) information support (advice, guidance, and feedback). Experiential knowledge is specialized information and perspectives that people obtain from living through a particular experience such as substance abuse, a physical disability, chronic physical or mental illness, or a traumatic event such as combat, a natural disaster, domestic violence or a violent crime, sexual abuse, or imprisonment. Experiential knowledge tends to be unique and pragmatic and when shared contributes to solving problems and improving quality of life.Shubert, M., & Borkman, T. (1994). "Identifying the experiential knowledge developed within a self-help group." In T. Powell (Ed.) Understanding the self-help organization. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. Social learning theory postulates that peers, because they have undergone and survived relevant experiences, are more credible role models for others. Interactions with peers who are successfully coping with their experiences or illness are more likely to result in positive behavior change. Social comparison means that individuals are more comfortable interacting with others who share common characteristics with themselves, such as a psychiatric illness, in order to establish a sense of normalcy. By interacting with others who are perceived to be better than them, peers are given a sense of optimism and something to strive toward. The helper-therapy principle proposes that there are four significant benefits to those who provide peer support:Riessman, F. (1965). "The 'Helper-therapy' principle." Social Work, 10, 27-32, (a) increased sense of interpersonal competence as a result of making an impact on another person's life; (b) development of a sense of equality in giving and taking between himself or herself and others; (c) helper gains new personally-relevant knowledge while helping; and (d) the helper receives social approval from the person they help, and others.From Salzer and Shear, S. L. (2002), p. 282. Self-determination means that individuals have the right to determine their own future—people are more likely to act on their own decisions rather than decisions made by others for them.
In schools and education
Peer mentoring
Peer mentoring takes place in learning environments such as schools, usually between an older more experienced student and a new student.Steve Grbac, "How to implement a 'Peer Support' program in a P-6 School", Scotch College Junior School, Melbourne Australia; International Boys' Schools Coalition 15th Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada, June 2008. Peer mentors appear mainly in secondary schools where students moving up from primary schools may need assistance in settling into the whole new schedule and lifestyle of secondary school life. Peer mentoring is also used in the workplace as a means of orienting new employees. New employees who are paired with a peer mentor are twice as likely to remain in their job than those who do not receive mentorship.
Peer listening This form of peer support is widely used within schools.Helen Cowie, Patti Wallace, Peer Support in Action: From Bystanding to Standing By, SAGE Publications Ltd; 1st edition February 2001; Sandy Hazouri, Miriam Smith McLaughlin, Peer listening in the middle school: training activities for students. Educational Media Corp., 1991. Peer supporters are trained, normally from within schools or universities, or sometimes by outside organizations, such as Childline's CHIPS (Childline In Partnership With Schools) program,Chrissan Moldrich and J.D. Carpentieri, "Every school should have one: How peer support schemes make schools better" , ChildLine, January 2008, . to be "active listeners".Joel H. Brown, Marianne D'Emidio-Caston, Bonnie Benard, Resilience Education, Corwin Press, 2001. Within schools, peer supporters are normally available at break or lunch times.
Peer mediation Peer mediation is a means of handling incidents of bullying by bringing the victim and the bully together under mediation by one of their peers.Cheryl Sanders (Editor), Gary D. Phye (Editor), Bullying: Implications for the Classroom, Academic Press; 1st edition May 14, 2004; ."Creating a Positive Climate: Peer Mediation; What Works in Preventing School Violence."Cremin, Hilary, Peer Mediation: Citizenship and Social Inclusion in Action. Maidenhead: Open University Press, September 2007; .
Peer helper in sports A peer helper in sports works with young adults in sports such as football, soccer, track, volleyball, baseball, cheerleading, swimming, and basketball. They may provide help with game tactics (e.g. keeping your eye on the ball), emotional support, training support, and social support.John DeMarco, Peer helping skills: a leader's guide to training peer helpers and peer tutors for middle and high school. Hazelden Publishing, 1993. Gray, H. D. and J. A. Tindall (1985). Peer counseling: An in-depth look at training peer helpers. Muncie, Ind., Accelerated Development.
In health
In mental health
Peer support can occur within, outside or around traditional mental health services and programs, between two people or in groups. Peer support is increasingly being offered through digital health like text messaging and smartphone apps. Peer support is a key concept in the recovery approach and in consumer-operated services programs. Consumers/clients of mental health programs have also formed non-profit self-help organizations, and serve to support each other and to challenge associated stigma and discrimination. The role of peer workers in mental health services was the subject of a conference in London in April 2012, jointly organized by the Centre for Mental Health and the NHS Confederation. Research has shown that peer-run self-help groups yield improvement in psychiatric symptoms resulting in decreased hospitalization, larger social support networks and enhanced self-esteem and social functioning. By matching users with individuals of similar lived experience, digital peer-supports platforms like Supportiv, co-founded by Pouria Mojabi, aim to increase emotional openness and reduce stigma. A review found that peer support could aid recovery, symptoms of depression, and self-belief. It found that service users valued peer support workers, and that peer support workers themselves had improved wellness and recovery. There is considerable variety in the ways that peer support is defined and conceptualized as it relates to mental health services. In some cases, clinicians, psychiatrists, and other staff who do not necessarily have their own experiences of receiving psychiatric treatment are being trained, often by psychiatric survivors, in peer support as an approach to building relationships that are genuine, mutual, and non-coercive.
For anxiety and depression In Canada, the LEAF (Living Effectively with Anxiety and Fear) Program is a peer-led support group for cognitive-behavioral therapy of persons with mild to moderate panic disorders.Shelley Jones, "The LEAF Program: Peer-led Group CBT", Visions: BC's Mental Health and Addictions Journal, Vol 6, no. 1 2009, pp. 16-17.
In a 2011 meta-analysis of seven randomized trials that compared a peer support intervention to group cognitive-behavioral therapy in patients with depression, peer support interventions were found to improve depression symptoms more than usual care alone and results may be comparable to those of group cognitive behavioral therapy. These findings suggest that peer support interventions have the potential to be effective components of depression care, and they support the inclusion of peer support in recovery-oriented mental health treatment.
Several studies have shown that peer support reduces fear during stressful situations such as combatSolomon, Z., and Oppenheimer, B. (1986). "Social network variables and stress-reaction lessons from the 1973 Yom-Kippur War." Milit. Med. 151; pp. 12-15. and domestic violence and may mitigate post-traumatic stress disorder. The 1982 Vietnam-Era Veterans Adjustment Survey showed that PTSD was highest in those men and women who lacked positive social support from family, friends, and society in general.
For first responders Peer support programs have also been implemented to address stress and psychological trauma among law-enforcement personnelRachelle Katz, Daniel I. Cohen and Ronnie M. Hirsh, Cop to Cop: A Peer Support Training Manual for the Law Enforcement Officer, Peer Support Press; 2nd edition, January 1, 2000. Grauwiler, Peggy; Barocas, Briana; Mills, Linda G, "Police peer support programs: current knowledge and practice," International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 27-38, Winter 2008. and firefighters as well as emergency medical responders.Dowdall-Thomae, Cynthia; Culliney, Sean; Piechura, Jeff, "Peer Support Action Plan: Northwest Fire and Rescue," International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 177-184, Summer 2009. Peer support is an important component of the critical incident stress management program used to alleviate stress and trauma among disaster first responders.Jones, Norma S C; Majied, Kamilah, "Disaster mental health: a critical incident stress management program (CISM) to mitigate compassion fatigue," Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 17-23, July/August 2009.
For survivors of trauma