Joo Jin Hui, Bone Lee, Forte Joan, Kirley Erin, Lynch Thomas, Aboumatar Hanan
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Meyer 235, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Department of Health, Society and Behavior, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Fam Pract. 2022 Sep 24;39(5):903-912. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmac004.
Peer support programmes that provide services for various health conditions have been in existence for many years; however, there is little study of their benefits and challenges. Our goal was to explore how existing peer support programmes help patients with a variety of health conditions, the challenges that these programmes meet, and how they are addressed.
We partnered with 7 peer support programmes operating in healthcare and community settings and conducted 43 semi-structured interviews with key informants. Audiorecordings were transcribed and qualitative analysis was conducted using grounded theory methods.
Peer support programmes offer informational and psychosocial support, reduce social isolation, and connect patients and caregivers to others with similar health issues. These programmes provide a supportive community of persons who have personal experience with the same health condition and who can provide practical information about self-care and guidance in navigating the health system. Peer support is viewed as different from and complementary to professional healthcare services. Existing programmes experience challenges such as matching of peer supporter and peer recipient and maintaining relationship boundaries. They have gained experience in addressing some of these challenges.
Peer support programmes can help persons and caregivers manage health conditions but also face challenges that need to be addressed through organizational processes. Peer support programmes have relevance for improving healthcare systems, especially given the increased focus on becoming more patient-centred. Further study of peer programmes and their relevance to improving individuals' well-being is warranted.
为各种健康状况提供服务的同伴支持项目已经存在多年；然而，对其益处和挑战的研究却很少。我们的目标是探讨现有的同伴支持项目如何帮助患有各种健康状况的患者、这些项目所面临的挑战以及如何应对这些挑战。
我们与在医疗保健和社区环境中运作的7个同伴支持项目合作，对关键信息提供者进行了43次半结构化访谈。对录音进行了转录，并使用扎根理论方法进行了定性分析。
同伴支持项目提供信息和心理社会支持，减少社会孤立，并将患者和护理人员与有类似健康问题的其他人联系起来。这些项目提供了一个支持性的社区，其中的人对相同的健康状况有个人经验，并且可以提供有关自我护理的实用信息以及在医疗系统中导航的指导。同伴支持被视为与专业医疗服务不同且互补。现有项目面临诸如同伴支持者与同伴接受者的匹配以及维持关系界限等挑战。他们在应对其中一些挑战方面积累了经验。
同伴支持项目可以帮助患者和护理人员管理健康状况，但也面临需要通过组织流程来解决的挑战。同伴支持项目与改善医疗系统相关，特别是考虑到越来越注重以患者为中心。有必要对同伴项目及其与改善个人福祉的相关性进行进一步研究。
