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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Mental Health

Date Submitted: Jul 21, 2019
Date Accepted: Feb 15, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: May 1, 2020

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Peer Support in Mental Health: Literature Review

Shalaby RA, Agyapong VI

Peer Support in Mental Health: Literature Review

JMIR Ment Health 2020;7(6):e15572

DOI: 10.2196/15572

PMID: 32357127

PMCID: 7312261

Peer Support in Mental Health- A General Review of the Literature

  • Reham AbdelHameed Shalaby; 
  • Vincent I.O. Agyapong

ABSTRACT

A growing gap has emerged between people with mental illness and the healthcare professionals, which in recent years have been successfully closed through the adoption of the peer support service (PSS). Peer support (PS) in mental health has been variously defined in the literature, and simply known as the help and support that people with lived experience of mental illness, or a learning disability can give to one another. While PSS dates back to several centuries, it is only the last few decades when it has formally evolved, grown, and become an integral part of the healthcare system. The debate around PS in mental health has been raised frequently in the literature; some authors have emphasized the utmost importance to include the PS into the healthcare system to instill hope, improve engagement, quality of life, self-confidence & integrity and reduce the burden on the healthcare system. Conversely, other rigorous studies suggest there are neutral effects from integrating PSS in healthcare, with a probable waste of resources. In this general review, we will examine the literature, exploring the evolution, growth, types, function, generating tools, evaluation, challenges, and the effect of the PSS in the field of mental health and addiction. Also, we will describe PSSs in different contexts; families, medicolegal system, different age groups, mental illness severity, and the online PSS.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Shalaby RA, Agyapong VI

Peer Support in Mental Health: Literature Review

JMIR Ment Health 2020;7(6):e15572

DOI: 10.2196/15572

PMID: 32357127

PMCID: 7312261

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