Peer support – the what, why, who, how and now
| Date | 02 November 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-03-2015-0013 |
| Published date | 02 November 2015 |
| Pages | 314-324 |
| Author | Anne Beales,Johanna Wilson |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Mental health education |
Peer support –the what, why, who,
how and now
Anne Beales and Johanna Wilson
Anne Beales is Director and
Johanna Wilson is Support
Officer and former
Charityworks Graduate
Trainee, both at Service User
Involvement Directorate,
Together for Mental Wellbeing,
London, UK.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to outline what peer support is, covering its history, variations and
benefits, then goes on to discuss what the challenges have been to authenticity and what the future holds for
peer support.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors argue for the necessity of service user leadership
in peer support based on both the Service User Involvement Directorate’s(SUID’s) experience and
UK-wide learning.
Findings –Peer support brings wellbeing and confidence benefits both to the supporter and the supported.
However, the lack of understanding of what peer support is, the current climate of austerity and over-
professionalisation can threaten the transformational power of genuine peer support.
Research limitations/implications –Peer support is always evolving, and there are areas like the criminal
justice service and secure services where more work needs to be done.
Practical implications –Commissioners/funders of mental health services should recognise the value of
peer support and its potential for better wellbeing outcomes, while understanding the necessity of service
user leadership to maximise its beneficial potential.
Originality/value –The paper looks at peer support at the point in time a decade after the formation of the
SUID at Together and four years since the UK mental health strategy No Health Without Mental Health
(Department of Health, 2011) and explores the challenges faced at a time when the value of peer support is
generally accepted in legislation.
Keywords Training, UK, Recovery, Peer support, Wellbeing, Mental ill-health, Confidence,
Service user leadership
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
Much of the scholarly debate around peer support has focused on randomised control
trials of peer services and the potential of peer support as a money-saving method in statutory
services (e.g. Pfeiffer et al., 2011; Lloyd-Evans et al., 2014; Pitt et al., 2013). This debate is
important but, within this context, relatively small peer support organisations often either do not
have the resources to bring their experiences to the debate, or have their learning dismissed
as anecdotal.
This paper provides a view from the voluntary sector, covering Together’s experiences and
learning over the past decade as one of the largest voluntary sector providers of mental
health peer support, with a Directorate specifically founded to involve people who use mental
health services in a meaningful way. While the paper covers one specific organisation’s
experiences within the past decade as a working example, it draws on the varied history of peer
support and the best practice and experiences of other peer support organisations. This paper
focuses on the Together peer support model and the reasons that its structure and principles
Received 30 March 2015
Revised 27 May 2015
Accepted 27 May 2015
PAGE314
j
THE JOURNAL OF MENTALHEALTH TRAINING, EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
j
VOL. 10 NO. 5 2015, pp.314-324, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1755-6228 DOI 10.1108/JMHTEP-03-2015-0013
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