FAQs

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, serious mental illness (SMI) is a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that results in serious functional impairment (NIMH, 2022). SMI includes schizophrenia, schizophrenia-related disorders, severe bipolar disorder, and major recurrent depressive disorder.

Peer supporters are people in recovery who use and share their lived mental health experiences to promote the recovery of others affected by mental illness (Kuhn et al., 2015). “Peer support” is an umbrella term for the work they do. This is because their responsibilities may vary depending on the setting. In a fully peer-run setting, the care peer supporters provide may not follow “traditional” methods. In a peer-based setting, the client is seen as the expert in their care as they know the most about their lived experiences.

Peer supporters work with the individual using recovery-oriented goals, where person-oriented recovery goals are the most important. Peer supporters can be found in a variety of settings, including traditional community settings and somewhat newer roles within integrated settings. Integrated settings often have a blend of physical and mental health services. Peer supporters can work on integrated care teams that utilize recovery-oriented language in places like hospitals, behavioral health clinics, and Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams.

The Peer Platform is the name of this program. This program was made to help guide conversations based on what peer supporters said they and the individuals they serve needed help with. This program uses an educational modular style, meaning each topic is presented in a chapter format.

Each module will have discussions, resources, and knowledge checks. The materials are meant to be delivered in a group format, whether in person or online.

This program is meant to be peer-run. This means that each group session will be led by individuals with lived experiences and have experience as peer supporters.

The program provides guided discussions and information relevant to people with mental illness, especially those with serious mental illness. It is delivered in plain language, and new or unfamiliar terms are defined for the group. Useful materials, such as national resources, are included at the end of each modular section. Overall, the written materials are meant to serve as a guide to help direct conversations around health and communication.

Peer support has been around for a long time, but it has begun to receive the recognition it deserves due to peer supporters' importance in recovery. Peer supporters offer hope and understanding to people who are newly experiencing mental health symptoms or are experiencing returning symptoms. Peer supporters are advocates and have played a major part in mental health system reform. Peer supporters can work in clinical settings like hospitals and advocate for their clients’ rights and goals. In non-clinical settings like community and peer respite programs, peer supporters can provide a sense of community and belonging. Peer supporters have been shown to reduce hospital readmission and provide hope to people in recovery.

This program is for anyone with mental illness and receives care in a setting with a peer system in place. The education is meant to guide meaningful discussions around health and communication.

The Peer Platform should be utilized with existing peer programs or with at least one group leader who has their own mental health experiences or is recognized as a peer.

No, the Peer Platform is meant as a discussion platform to help peers have conversations with the people they serve.

The topics within the program were developed based on peer responses and research into their personal experiences. Both the responses and research demonstrated that there were some topics peers needed to feel prepared to discuss with individuals receiving support. Because there are so many different types of peer programs, the Peer Platform is simply meant to be added in to help guide these conversations.

The Peer Platform has two manuals, which are modular-based, meaning they follow the same setup in each book. The Peer Platform book is for the persons receiving care, and the group leader manual is for the person who leads the group. Each module will follow the same format, beginning with an introduction to the topic, with key term definitions, followed by educational content and guided discussions. Each module will also have a pre- and post-quiz to assess perceived competency in each topic.

Ideally, it should be run with at least one peer supporter or someone at a stable point of mental health recovery with the training to use their experience in a healthy way to act as a role model in their recovery. Peers in these settings should have previous training, either from the program they participate in or from a state or national certification program. Note: When this FAQ was written, the National Alliance for Peer Support (NAPS) was working towards a national peer support certification, but it has not yet begun.

This manual was authored in 2023 by Melinda Dudley, a doctoral student in Kean University’s Occupational Therapy (OT) program. The profession of OT is often described as an “art and a science.” Occupational therapists aim to meet the needs of individuals, groups, and communities through collaborative and evidence-based practice. OTs are holistically trained and work to improve an individual’s participation and engagement in daily life. Like peer supporters, OT believes that power should be shared and that the individual is the expert in their experiences.