Effectiveness of a Digital Peer Support Training Program Designed for Rapid Uptake Among Peer Support Specialists Pilot Study.

Peer telemental health recently became Medicaid reimbursable during the COVID-19 crisis, increasing the need for standardized training on digital peer support (DPS) services. DPS has the potential to reduce barriers to services and expand the reach of peer support specialists. The 4-h Digital Peer Support Training program was developed to train peer support specialists for rapid uptake in providing digital peer support during the COVID-19 crisis. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the 4-h DPS course for peer support specialists. Surveys were administered to examine pre-post changes in DPS course for participants (N = 75) related to attitudes/ beliefs towards DPS, ability to use/ engage in DPS, and organizational readiness to implement DPS. Data were analyzed by conducting paired samples t-tests. Linear mixed models were used to explore significant results further. Statistically significant (< .05) changes were observed related to readiness to use DPS, attitudes/ beliefs towards DPS, and ability to use/ engage in DPS. The 4-h DPS course may be beneficial in providing diverse groups of peer support specialists with a standardized training framework. Widespread dissemination of the DPS short course may be beneficial in rapidly equipping peer support specialists with the skills and resources needed to expand the reach of peer support services during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

Experiences of Community Members Engaged in eCPR (Emotional Connecting, Empowering, Revitalizing) Training: Qualitative Focus Group Study.

BACKGROUND: The United Nations has called for wide-scale community mental health psychoeducation; however, few programs currently exist. Emotional Connecting, Empowering, Revitalizing (eCPR) is a community education and training program developed by individuals with a lived experience of mental health challenges or trauma. It is designed to provide community members with skills and confidence to support someone experiencing mental health challenges. OBJECTIVE: This qualitative study aimed to examine the user experiences of diverse community members engaged in eCPR training. This study reviewed their attitudes toward training and opportunities for improvement in future implementations of training. METHODS: eCPR training participants (N=31) were invited to participate in virtual focus groups between June 2020 and July 2020. Data were analyzed using the rigorous and accelerated data reduction method, which converts raw textual data into concise data tables to develop a codebook, and thematic analysis was performed to identify common themes. RESULTS: The themes identified when analyzing the data included emotional holding and containment, training feedback, principles and practices of eCPR, implementation, connection in a digital environment, skills practice, and shared experiences. CONCLUSIONS: eCPR may benefit individuals from multiple, diverse demographics. It can enhance their ability to connect with others to understand what it means to be with someone who is experiencing a mental health challenge or crisis, to accept their own emotions, and to be confident in being their most authentic self in both their work and personal lives. eCPR may answer the call of the United Nations by bringing opportunities for authenticity and healing to community settings. Exploring the effects of delivering eCPR in communities on individuals experiencing distress is an important next step. This study found that eCPR may be beneficial to many groups of trainees with varying backgrounds and experiences. These findings are important, as they speak to the potential for eCPR to be implemented in a variety of community settings with the intention of working to improve mental health in everyday settings.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peer specialists.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with mental health challenges are at particularly high risk of experiencing negative outcomes (e.g., worsening of mental health, increased risk of mortality) due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Peer specialists may have the benefit of several protective factors, including higher levels of social support and better illness self-management skills that buffer against negative effects of the pandemic. In this study, we compared the differences in the impact of COVID-19 on those trained as peer specialists (e.g., certified peer specialists, recovery coaches) to those not trained in this role. METHOD: Participants with self-reported mental health and/or substance use challenges completed an online survey to collect information on their experiences during COVID-19 (Epidemic-Pandemic Impacts Inventory [EPII]), loneliness (3-item Loneliness Scale), and access to and satisfaction with mental health support. Respondents self-identified as peer specialists or not. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-three U.S. resident participants from 23 states were included in the final analysis: 109 were peer specialists and 64 were nonpeer specialists. Those who were trained as peer specialists reported fewer negative outcomes during the pandemic, including less disruption in employment, less loneliness, and less worsening of mental health, while reporting more positive attitudes in the face of difficulties. Peer specialists were also likely to report more access to and satisfaction with mental health services. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Possibly as a function of their role, peer specialists reported better mental health outcomes during COVID-19, providing key, empirical evidence to support the benefits of helping others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Feasibility and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Peer-Developed and Virtually Delivered Community Mental Health Training Program (Emotional CPR): Pre-Post Study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a global mental health crisis, highlighting the need for a focus on community-wide mental health. Emotional CPR (eCPR) is a program and practice developed by persons with a lived experience of recovery from trauma or mental health challenges to train community members from diverse backgrounds to support others through mental health crises. eCPR trainers have found that eCPR may promote feelings of belonging by increasing supportive behaviors toward individuals with mental health problems. Thus, clinical outcomes related to positive and negative affect would improve along with feelings of loneliness. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of eCPR. METHODS: We employed a pre-post design with 151 individuals, including peer support specialists, service users, clinicians, family members, and nonprofit leaders, who participated in virtual eCPR trainings between April 20, 2020, and July 31, 2020. Instruments were administered before and after training and included the Herth Hope Scale; Empowerment Scale; Flourishing Scale (perceived capacity to support individuals); Mindful Attention Awareness Scale; Active-Empathic Listening Scale (supportive behaviors toward individuals with mental health challenges); Social Connectedness Scale (feelings of belonging and connection with others); Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; and University of California, Los Angeles 3-item Loneliness Scale (symptoms and emotions). The eCPR fidelity scale was used to determine the feasibility of delivering eCPR with fidelity. We conducted 2-tailed paired t tests to examine posttraining improvements related to each scale. Additionally, data were stratified to identify pre-post differences by role. RESULTS: Findings indicate that it is feasible for people with a lived experience of a mental health condition to develop a program and train people to deliver eCPR with fidelity. Statistically significant pre-post changes were found related to one's ability to identify emotions, support others in distress, communicate nonverbally, share emotions, and take care of oneself, as well as to one's feelings of social connectedness, self-perceived flourishing, and positive affect (P≤.05). Findings indicated promising evidence of pre-post improvements (not statistically significant) related to loneliness, empowerment, active-empathetic listening, mindfulness awareness, and hope. Nonprofit leaders and workers demonstrated the greatest improvements related to loneliness, social connectedness, empathic listening, and flourishing. Peer support specialists demonstrated the greatest improvements related to positive affect, and clinicians demonstrated the greatest improvements related to mindfulness awareness. CONCLUSIONS: Promising evidence indicates that eCPR, a peer-developed and peer-delivered program, may increase feelings of belonging while increasing supportive behaviors toward individuals with mental health problems and improving clinical outcomes related to positive and negative affect and feelings of loneliness.

Strategies to Increase Peer Support Specialists' Capacity to Use Digital Technology in the Era of COVID-19: Pre-Post Study.

BACKGROUND: Prior to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), telemental health to support mental health services was primarily designed for individuals with professional clinical degrees, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, registered nurses, and licensed clinical social workers. For the first the time in history, peer support specialists are offering Medicaid-reimbursable telemental health services during the COVID-19 crisis; however, little effort has been made to train peer support specialists on telehealth practice and delivery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the impact of the Digital Peer Support Certification on peer support specialists' capacity to use digital peer support technology. METHODS: The Digital Peer Support Certification was co-produced with peer support specialists and included an education and simulation training session, synchronous and asynchronous support services, and audit and feedback. Participants included 9 certified peer support specialists between the ages of 25 and 54 years (mean 39 years) who were employed as peer support specialists for 1 to 11 years (mean 4.25 years) and had access to a work-funded smartphone device and data plan. A pre-post design was implemented to examine the impact of the Digital Peer Support Certification on peer support specialists' capacity to use technology over a 3-month timeframe. Data were collected at baseline, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months. RESULTS: Overall, an upward trend in peer support specialists' capacity to offer digital peer support occurred during the 3-month certification period. CONCLUSIONS: The Digital Peer Support Certification shows promising evidence of increasing the capacity of peer support specialists to use specific digital peer support technology features. Our findings also highlighted that this capacity was less likely to increase with training alone and that a combinational knowledge translation approach that includes both training and management will be more successful.