scholarly journals Lessons from Peer Support Among Individuals with Mental Health Difficulties: A Review of the Literature

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Miyamoto ◽  
Tamaki Sono

We conducted a comprehensive narrative review and used a systematic search strategy to identify studies related to peer support among adults with mental health difficulties. The purposes of this review were to describe the principles, effects and benefits of peer support documented in the published literature, to discuss challenging aspects of peer support and to investigate lessons from peer support. Fifty-one studies, including 8 review articles and 19 qualitative studies, met the inclusion criteria for this review. Most of the challenges for peer support were related to “role” and “relationship” issues; that is, how peer support providers relate to people who receive peer support and how peer support providers are treated in the system. The knowledge gained from peer support relationships, such as mutual responsibility and interdependence, might be a clue toward redefining the helper-helper relationship as well as the concepts of help and support.

Author(s):  
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Objective: To assess the impact on mental health of health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Narrative review of the literature, of a descriptive character, carried out through bibliographic survey through a search strategy based on the terms: Mental health, Health professionals and Covid-19. Inclusion criteria were adopted: articles published in Portuguese, English and Spanish indexed in the PUBMED / MEDLINE, SciELO and VHL databases published between February 2020 and August 2020. Results: The COVID-19 pandemic established a chaos in all sectors of society, the health sphere was the most affected. The routine of health professionals was abruptly altered by the constant confrontation of an enormous pressure that goes from working in an environment with a high risk of contamination without adequate protection, excessive working hours, frustration, lack of contact with family to experiences of discrimination by a small part of society who see them as potential vectors of disease transmission. Conclusion: The pandemic was extremely harmful to the health of health professionals, affecting their emotional balance. It was shown that the pandemic scenario caused a lot of damage, as these professionals were exposed to high and intense workloads, which caused physical and mental exhaustion, leading to a feeling of weakness and professional insecurity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Mulvale ◽  
Fiona Wilson ◽  
Shaleen Jones ◽  
Jenn Green ◽  
Karl-Johan Johansen ◽  
...  

Mental health peer support is an evidence-based approach called for by Canada’s mental health strategy that presents health leaders with an opportunity to transform mental health service experiences, improve health outcomes, and lower overall system costs. Originally offered in community settings, peer support has been expanding to clinical settings, but challenges to integration exist. This qualitative case study of peer support in clinical settings in Canada and Norway examines the perceived value of peer support and change management strategies that health leaders, managers, staff, and peer support providers can use to support integration of peer support in existing healthcare teams in clinical settings. Recommended strategies for health leaders include adopting a gradual approach to integration, building champions, demonstrating value, focusing on resistant groups, adopting a continuous improvement approach, setting peer support as an organizational priority, and linking peer support to patient-centred care.


Author(s):  
Rahul Suresh ◽  
Zoe Karkossa ◽  
Jérémie Richard ◽  
Maharshee Karia

Abstract Background University students often experience numerous financial, social and emotional stressors that can affect their mental health. The Peer Support Centre (PSC) is a pilot project that was established to provide peer support to students in these stressful conditions. We wanted to investigate whether peer support is a viable form of support that would benefit university students. The objective of this study is to determine whether the organization was indeed providing a beneficial service to students and if it was fulfilling the needs of the students that visited the service. Methods After a support session, students and peer support providers completed an anonymous questionnaire regarding their self-reported mental wellbeing using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) metrics, and Outcome Rating Scale (ORS). They were also asked about their experience with previous professional mental health services as well as their experience at the PSC. With the data collected from 1043 students and 797 volunteers from September 2016–March 2020, a program evaluation was conducted for quality improvement purposes. Results The PSC is used by students of different sexes, genders, and ethnicities. Students reported having a low ORS score, moderate anxiety as per the GAD-7 and moderate depression according to the PHQ-9. They find it easy to use and rely on it as an alternative form of support when they approach barriers that prevent them from accessing professional services. Lastly, the peer support providers feel very validated in their role and overall quite prepared and helpful when helping their fellow peers. Conclusions The establishment of a student service that provides peer support would be beneficial to the members of a university/college campus.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Conchar ◽  
Julie Repper

Purpose – A systematic review of the literature on “wounded healers” was undertaken to identify, define and interpret the term and its application within the mental health environment. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Eight key medical/social sciences databases were interrogated. In total, 835 papers were identified in the systematic database search and abstracts were obtained for each to determine whether they met the inclusion criteria. In total, 237 sources were retrieved for critical reading, to assess relevance and value to the review, and 125 documents were subsequently included. Through thematic analysis a number of themes and sub themes were identified Findings – The archetypal image of the wounded healer originates in ancient mythology and crosses many cultures. There are many interpretations and applications of the belief that having healed their own wounds a person is in a better position to heal others, however, the evidence to support this is not so robust. Of more direct relevance to contemporary practice are reports of supporting staff with mental health problems to make a contribution to mental health services, most recently through the employment of peer support workers. Originality/value – As peer support workers are increasingly being employed in mental health services, it is helpful to consider the many existing staff who bring personal experience of mental health problems. This paper explores the evidence that their lived experience makes a difference to the way that they work and considers their employment support needs.


Author(s):  
Ioneide De Oliveira Campos ◽  
Rafael Moraes Reis

A Economia Solidária é uma alternativa para inserção laboral de pessoas com transtornos mentais. Realizou-se uma revisão da literatura, com o propósito de conhecer o que tem sido publicado sobre Economia Solidária, inclusão e Saúde Mental, quais os objetivos e métodos de pesquisa, quem são os profissionais e populações-alvo e quais os resultados obtidos nos estudos. Foram considerados os seguintes critérios para a realização desse estudo: a importância da temática para o contexto da Saúde Mental e a identificação de pesquisas e relatos de experiência que informassem práticas em Saúde Mental e Economia Solidária. A revisão foi realizada nas bases: Web of Science, DOAJ, PubMed, SciElo e LILACS, sem restrições de ano. Os descritores utilizados foram “economia solidária”, “saúde mental” e “inclusão”. Vinte e nove (n=29) artigos foram encontrados e, após a aplicação dos critérios de inclusão, dez foram analisados na íntegra. Trinta e quatro (n=34) profissionais estiveram envolvidos nas pesquisas, sendo a Terapia Ocupacional, Enfermagem e Psicologia, as profissões que apareceram mais frequentemente.  Todos os estudos encontrados eram qualitativos e foram conduzidos no Brasil. A entrevista foi o método mais adotado. Os resultados dos estudos sinalizaram ganhos para aspectos intrínsecos dos usuários no que se refere a autogestão, expressão, empoderamento, e também extrínsecos, como a questão familiar e do trabalho coletivo. A revisão agregou conhecimento que permitem refletir sobre a importância da interdisciplinaridade, do trabalho colaborativo em rede, e sobre a necessidade de documentação das experiências em Economia Solidária no país. AbstractThe Solidarity Economy is an alternative for the labour inclusion of people with mental health. A review of the literature was conducted in order to know what has been published on the issue of Solidarity Economy, Inclusion and Mental Health, what are the objectives and research methods, who are the professionals and populations’ target, and the results identified in the research. We considered the following criteria: the importance of the issue in the mental health context and identification of studies and case reports which informed practice in Mental Health and Solidarity Economy. The search was done at the databases: Web of Science, DOAJ, PubMed, Scielo and LILACS, with no year restrictions. The descriptors used were "solidarity economy", "mental health" and "inclusion". Twenty-nine (n=29) were found and after the inclusion criteria filter, ten articles were analysed. Thirty-four (n=34) professionals were involved in the studies and the most were Occupational Therapy, Nursing and Psychology. All the studies found used qualitative approaches and were conducted in Brazil. The interview was the most adopted method for data collection. The results indicate outcomes for users' intrinsic aspects such as self-management, expression, empowerment, and also extrinsic, such as family and collective work. The review added knowledge to reflect about the interdisciplinary and collaborative network, and also on the documentation of experiences in Solidarity Economy in the country.Keywords: Mental health; Solidarity economy; Public policies; Inclusion; Research.ResumenLa Economía Solidaria es una alternativa para la inserción laboral de personas con trastornos mentales. Se realizó una revisión de la literatura, con el fin de conocer qué se ha publicado sobre Economía Solidaria, inclusión y Salud Mental, cuáles son los objetivos y métodos de investigación, quiénes son los profesionales y las poblaciones objetivo y cuáles son los resultados obtenidos. Se consideraron los siguientes criterios para realizar este estudio: la importancia del tema para el contexto de la salud mental y la identificación de informes de investigación y experiencia que informarían las prácticas con la Salud Mental y la Economía Solidaria. La revisión se realizó en las bases de datos: Web of Science, DOAJ, PubMed, Scielo y LILACS, sin restricciones de año. Los descriptores utilizados fueron "economía solidaria", "salud mental" e "inclusión". Veintinueve (n = 29) artículos fueron encontrados y, después de aplicar los criterios de inclusión, diez fueron analizados en su totalidad. Treinta y cuatro (n = 34) profesionales participaron en las investigaciones, siendo la Terapia Ocupacional, Enfermería y Psicología las profesiones que aparecieron con más frecuencia. Todos los estudios encontrados fueron cualitativos y se realizaron en Brasil. La entrevista fue el método más adoptado. Los resultados de los estudios señalaron ganancias para los aspectos intrínsecos de los usuarios, como la autogestión, la expresión, el empoderamiento y también los aspectos extrínsecos, como el tema del trabajo familiar y colectivo. La revisión agregó conocimiento que nos permite reflexionar sobre la importancia de la interdisciplinariedad, así como el trabajo en red colaborativo, y sobre la necesidad de documentar experiencias en Economía Solidaria en el país.Palabras clave: Salud mental; Economía solidaria; Políticas públicas; Inclusión; Investigación.      


Author(s):  
Hitesh R. Singhavi ◽  
Arjun Singh ◽  
Pankaj Chaturvedi

AbstractAccording to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey part 2 (GATS-2), approximately 200 million adult Indians consume smokeless tobacco (SLT). Circumvention of SLT product ban has been observed. We conducted a review of the literature to summarize the ill effects of tobacco for the articles published from 2019 to 2020. A systematic search of the databases PubMed (2019 onward) and Web of Science (2019 onward), through February 2021 was done. Search yielded 1,061 articles and after excluding articles based on the inclusion criteria, 37 articles were taken in to consideration. The review shows that differential SLT product has specific odds of oral carcinogenesis. Review also indicates the emerging data of cardiovascular risk due to higher use of SLT products along with its known cause of oral cancer. It also cautions about the adverse consequences of pregnancy associated with SLT use.


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