An evaluation of a peer support intervention for student mental health

Children receiving services for severe emotional and behavioral difficulties are less likely to have parents who are involved in their education and support services. Peer-to-peer family support programs are one approach to increasing the self-efficacy and empowerment of parents’ engagement in the treatment of a child’s mental health conditions. Furthermore, programs providing parental support may reduce the strain and negative consequences caregivers may experience due to the stress of caring for a child with emotional and behavioral needs. Although much is known about the relation between caregivers’ strain and children’s use of mental health services, less is known about caregiver strain and parents’ participation in family support programs. This study evaluated whether caregiver strain predicted parents’ ( N = 52) participation in a phone-based, peer-to-peer support intervention. Results of the regression analysis indicated that highly strained parents participated in four to seven more phone conversations over the course of intervention, which occurred across the academic year. Therefore, findings have implications for the school and mental health providers aiming to increase the involvement of parents of children with emotional and behavioral disorders.

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Community-Based Peer Support Intervention to Mitigate Social Isolation and Stigma of Adolescent Motherhood in Harare, Zimbabwe

10.21203/rs.3.rs-48978/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chiwoneso B. Tinago ◽

Edward A. Frongillo ◽

Andrea Warren ◽

Vivian Chitiyo ◽

Ashley K. Cifarelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Community Health ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Peer Support ◽

Support Groups ◽

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Community Based ◽

Support Intervention ◽

Peer Support Intervention

Abstract Background Adolescent mothers in Zimbabwe often experience stigma, isolation and lack coping skills and resources to successfully navigate motherhood. Social isolation and stigma are linked to poor mental health outcomes. No interventions currently address mental health of adolescent mothers in Zimbabwe. Peer support groups in other contexts have been effective at increasing social connectedness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, providing coping mechanisms to manage stigma experiences, in addition to empowering and improving mental health or adolescents and adolescent mothers. To develop a community-based peer support intervention, we need to understand the unique needs of adolescent mothers and how peer support groups could address those needs. Methods Focus group discussions were conducted with 85 adolescent mothers aged 14-18 years, 24 community health workers, and 25 key community stakeholders in a low-income high-density community in Harare. Data were analyzed thematically using NVivo 12 software.Results Participants described adolescent mother experiences with stigma and social isolation, in addition to challenges including gossip, lack of employment and educational opportunities and gaps in services and programming. Peer support groups for adolescent mothers were welcomed to improve mental health, social support, knowledge sharing and skills building. Participants identified varying preferred frequency and duration of group sessions addressing topics including income generation, mental health, and gossip, facilitated by community health workers at health and community centers. Use of WhatsApp Messenger to support intervention efforts was welcomed as an affordable and user-friendly platform to share information.Conclusions Participants supported peer support groups to empower, meet needs, and improve the health of adolescent mothers.

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Development of a peer support intervention to improve the experience and outcomes of discharge from inpatient mental health care: the role of experiential knowledge in a coproduced approach

BMC Research Notes ◽

10.1186/s13104-021-05735-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jacqueline Marks ◽

Rhiannon Foster ◽

Sarah Louise Gibson ◽

Alan Simpson ◽

Miles Rinaldi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Peer Support ◽

Training Programme ◽

Experiential Knowledge ◽

Support Intervention ◽

Peer Support Intervention

Abstract Objectives Peer support is rapidly being introduced into mental health services internationally, yet peer support interventions are often poorly described, limiting the usefulness of research in informing policy and practice. This paper reports the development of a peer support intervention that aims to improve outcomes of discharge from inpatient to community mental health care. People with experiential knowledge of using mental health services—peer workers and service user researchers—were involved in all stages of developing the intervention: generating intervention components; producing the intervention handbook; piloting the intervention. Results Systematic review and expert panels, including our Lived Experience Advisory Panel, identified 66 candidate intervention components in five domains: Recruitment and Role Description of Peer Workers; Training for Peer Workers; Delivery of Peer Support; Supervision and Support for Peer Workers; Organisation and Team. A series of Local Advisory Groups were used to prioritise components and explore implementation issues using consensus methods, refining an intervention blueprint. A peer support handbook and peer worker training programme were produced by the study team and piloted in two study sites. Feedback workshops were held with peer workers and their supervisors to produce a final handbook and training programme. The ENRICH trial is registered with the ISRCTN clinical trial register, number ISRCTN 10043328, and was overseen by an independent steering committee and a data monitoring committee.

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Experiences of peer workers and mental health service users with a peer support intervention: applying and critiquing a behaviour change techniques taxonomy

Advances in Mental Health ◽

10.1080/18387357.2021.2012088 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

J. Marks ◽

N. Sriskandarajah ◽

M. M. Aurelio ◽

S. Gillard ◽

M. Rinaldi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Health Service ◽

Peer Support ◽

Behaviour Change ◽

Behaviour Change Techniques ◽

Service Users ◽

Support Intervention ◽

Peer Support Intervention

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Community-Based Peer Support Intervention to Mitigate Social Isolation and Stigma of Adolescent Motherhood in Harare, Zimbabwe

10.21203/rs.3.rs-48978/v3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Chiwoneso B. Tinago ◽

Edward A. Frongillo ◽

Andrea Warren ◽

Vivian Chitiyo ◽

Ashley K. Cifarelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Community Health ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Peer Support ◽

Support Groups ◽

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Health Workers ◽

Community Based ◽

Support Intervention ◽

Peer Support Intervention

Abstract Background Adolescent mothers in Zimbabwe often experience stigma, isolation and lack coping skills and resources to successfully navigate motherhood. Social isolation and stigma are linked to poor mental health outcomes. No interventions currently address mental health of adolescent mothers in Zimbabwe. Peer support groups in other contexts have been effective at increasing social connectedness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, providing coping mechanisms to manage stigma experiences, in addition to empowering and improving mental health or adolescents and adolescent mothers. To develop a community-based peer support intervention, we aimed to understand the unique needs of adolescent mothers and how peer support groups could address those needs. Methods Focus group discussions were conducted with 85 adolescent mothers aged 14-18 years, 24 community health workers, and 25 key community stakeholders in a low-income high-density community in Harare. Data were analyzed thematically using NVivo 12 software. Results Participants described adolescent mother experiences with stigma and social isolation, in addition to challenges including gossip, lack of employment and educational opportunities and gaps in services and programming. Peer support groups for adolescent mothers were welcomed to improve mental health, social support, knowledge sharing and skills building. Participants identified varying preferred frequency and duration of group sessions addressing topics including income generation, mental health, and gossip, facilitated by community health workers at health and community centers. Use of WhatsApp Messenger to support intervention efforts was welcomed as an affordable and user-friendly platform to share information. Conclusions Participants supported peer support groups to empower, meet needs, and improve the health of adolescent mothers.

Download Full-text