JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Prior to COVID-19, telemental health to support mental health services was primarily designed for individuals with professional clinical degrees, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, registered nurses, and licensed clinical social workers. However, for the first the time in history, peer support specialists are offering Medicaid reimbursable telemental health service during the COVID-19 crisis, yet little effort has been done to train peer support specialists on telehealth practice and delivery. This manuscript explores the impact of the Digital Peer Support Certification on peer support specialists’ capacity to use digital peer support technology. The Digital Peer Support Certification was co-produced with peer support specialists and included education and simulation training session, synchronous and asynchronous support services, and audit and feedback. Participants included nine certified peer support specialists between the ages of 25 - 54 (M = 39) who were employed as a peer support specialists between 1- 11 years (M = 4.25), and had access to a work-funded smartphone device and dataplan. A pre/post design was implemented to examine the Digital Peer Support Certification impact on capacity to use technology over a 3-month timeframe. Data were collected at baseline, 1-month, and 3-months. Overall, an upward trend in peer support specialists’ capacity to offer digital peer support occurred during the 3-month certification period.