University of Tampere, Finland.
University of Helsinki, Finland.
Health (London). 2020 Jan;24(1):21-37. doi: 10.1177/1363459318785711. Epub 2018 Jul 5.
Peer support workers are now working with patients in a variety of settings, coming into close contact and even work alongside health professionals. Despite the potentially influential position peer support workers hold in relation to those engaged in support activities, their role, duties and their relationship to peers and health professionals lack clarity and is often defined by other actors. This study explores how peer support workers interpret and define the activities, responsibilities and knowledge associated with their work. Using methods of membership categorisation analysis, we analysed interview materials generated by conducting individual semi-structured interviews during the autumn of 2016 with prostate cancer peer support workers ( = 11) who currently volunteer as support workers in Finland. Although the peer support workers acknowledged the psychosocial aspects of the work, we argue that their interpretations extend far beyond this and encompass expertise, advocacy and activism as central features of their work. These can be used to strengthen their position as credible commentators and educators on issues relating to cancer and men's health; raise awareness and represent the 'patient's voice' and attempt to influence both policy and clinical practice. These findings suggest that by categorising their work activities in different ways, voluntary sector actors such as peer support workers can attempt to portray themselves as legitimate authorities on a range of issues and influence decision-making ranging from individual level treatment decisions all the way to health policy.
同伴支持工作者现在在各种环境中与患者一起工作，他们与患者密切接触，甚至与卫生专业人员并肩工作。尽管同伴支持工作者在参与支持活动的人群中可能具有潜在的影响力，但他们的角色、职责以及与同伴和卫生专业人员的关系并不明确，往往由其他行为者来定义。本研究探讨了同伴支持工作者如何解释和定义与他们工作相关的活动、责任和知识。我们使用成员分类分析方法，分析了 2016 年秋季通过对 11 名前列腺癌同伴支持工作者（均为芬兰的志愿同伴支持工作者）进行的个人半结构化访谈中生成的访谈材料。虽然同伴支持工作者承认工作具有心理社会方面的性质，但我们认为他们的解释远远超出了这一点，还包括专业知识、倡导和行动主义，这些都是他们工作的核心特征。这些特征可以增强他们作为与癌症和男性健康相关问题的可信评论员和教育者的地位；提高认识，代表“患者的声音”，并试图影响政策和临床实践。这些发现表明，通过以不同的方式对其工作活动进行分类，同伴支持工作者等志愿部门行为者可以试图将自己描绘成一系列问题的合法权威，并影响从个人层面的治疗决策到卫生政策的决策。
