Walde Peggy, Hadala Julia, Peipe Verena, Völlm Birgit Angela
Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany.
Department for Applied Psychology, SRH University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Front Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 8;14:1061106. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1061106. eCollection 2023.
Peer Support has become common in psychiatric practice in the past decade. In this article we present findings from the implementation of peer support service into a forensic mental health hospital for offenders with substance use disorders from a patient's perspective.
We conducted focus groups and interviews with patients of the clinic to explore their experiences, acceptance and perceived effect of the peer support service. Data collection was conducted in two different points in time, three months and twelve months after the introduction of the of some peer support intervention. In the first time point two focus groups involving 10 patients and three semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. The second time point included one focus group with five patients and five semi-structured individual interviews. All focus groups and individual interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis.
Five themes emerged, (1) attitudes toward the concept of peer support work and the peer support worker himself; (2) Activities and conversation topics; (3) experiences and effects; (4) Peer support in contrast to other professions; and (5) ideas and wishes for future peer support in the clinic. In general, patients agreed on the high value of peer support work.
Findings revealed a broad acceptance of the peer support intervention by most patients, but also some reservations. They saw the peer support worker as someone who is part of the professional team, and has a unique knowledge coming from personal experience. This knowledge often facilitated conversations about several topics related to patients experiences with substance use and their recovery journey.
在过去十年中，同伴支持在精神科实践中已变得很普遍。在本文中，我们从患者的角度介绍了将同伴支持服务应用于一家为患有物质使用障碍的罪犯提供服务的法医精神健康医院的实施结果。
我们对该诊所的患者进行了焦点小组讨论和访谈，以探讨他们对同伴支持服务的体验、接受程度和感知效果。数据收集在两个不同的时间点进行，即在引入一些同伴支持干预措施后的三个月和十二个月。在第一个时间点，进行了两个涉及10名患者的焦点小组讨论和三次半结构化的个人访谈。第二个时间点包括一个有5名患者的焦点小组讨论和五次半结构化的个人访谈。所有焦点小组讨论和个人访谈都进行了录音并逐字转录。数据分析采用主题分析法。
出现了五个主题，（1）对同伴支持工作概念和同伴支持工作者本人的态度；（2）活动和谈话主题；（3）体验和效果；（4）与其他职业相比的同伴支持；（5）对诊所未来同伴支持的想法和愿望。总体而言，患者认同同伴支持工作的高价值。
研究结果显示大多数患者对同伴支持干预措施广泛接受，但也有一些保留意见。他们将同伴支持工作者视为专业团队的一员，并且拥有来自个人经历的独特知识。这种知识常常促进了关于几个与患者物质使用经历及其康复历程相关主题的对话。
