Peer support within mental health rehabilitation services
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative exploration of the use of peer support within inpatient mental health rehabilitation services
IRAS ID
347024
Contact name
Catherine Winney
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff Metropolitan Unviersity
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
There is a recognition within mental health services that a gap exists between people who experience mental illness and healthcare professionals (Shalaby and Agyapong, 2020). Existing literature indicates that peer support can play an integral role in addressing this gap and can have a positive impact on recovery (Trachtenberg et al., 2013). Various positive outcomes have been found for the role of peer support for those experiencing mental health difficulties. This includes an increase in patient engagement, positive medical outcomes, and greater use of self-management techniques (Chinman et al., 2014).
When exploring the role of peer support specifically for individuals suffering from psychosis, research indicates that peer support can improve service user engagement and provide a greater level of understanding between service providers and service users (White et al., 2017). The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance (2020) recommends that rehabilitation services for adults with complex psychosis should include opportunities to share experiences with peers and should incorporate peer support where possible. However, for individuals with complex psychosis, forming and maintaining personal relationships, a key aspect of peer support, can be challenging (Herman et al., 2016). Despite peer support appearing to fit within the recovery-oriented framework advocated by mental health inpatient rehabilitation services, there is currently limited research that outlines the experiences of peer support for this client group.
Service users and staff members from inpatient mental health rehabilitation services for complex psychosis will be invited to engage in an interview to explore their experience of peer support. The inpatient rehabilitation services within this study will be from an NHS Trust within Greater Manchester. Interviews will last for approximately 1 hour.
Thematic analysis will be used to explore the experiences of those involved in the study.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/EM/0075
Date of REC Opinion
2 Apr 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion