Peer Worker News Today

Introduction: People experiencing severe mental illness (SMI) smoke at much higher rates than the general population and require additional support. Engagement with existing evidence-based interventions such as quitlines and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) may be improved by mental health peer worker involvement and tailored support. This paper reports on a qualitative study nested within a peer researcher-facilitated tobacco treatment trial that included brief advice plus, for those in the i...

Introduction: One of the most challenging aspects of conducting intervention trials among people who experience severe mental illness (SMI) and who smoke tobacco, is recruitment. In our parent “QuitLink” randomized controlled trial (RCT), slower than expected peer researcher facilitated recruitment, along with the impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, necessitated an adaptive recruitment response. The objectives of the present study were to: (i) describe adaptive peer researcher facilita...

Objective: Peer support may be a valuable way to support recovery in borderline personality disorder (BPD). This study investigates the role of peer workers in services supporting consumers with BPD. Method: We studied peer work delivered in five different types of mental health services, including outpatient mental health and independent peer-run services. Surveys were conducted with peer workers (n = 5), consumers of the peer work (n = 14) and clinicians in the same service (n = 4). Qualitativ...