Employment as a Peer Support Technician: Impact on Mental Health Recovery

担任同伴支持技术员：对心理健康恢复的影响

• 批准号: 8596734
• 负责人: SUSAN V. EISEN
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: EDITH NOURSE ROGERS MEMORIAL VETERANS HOSPITAL
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-11-01 至 2014-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8596734
• 关键词: Accounting; Address; Applications Grants; Appointment; Attitude; Belief; Categories; Characteristics; Commit; Communities; Community Integration; Compassion; Consent Forms; Data; Data Analyses; Electronic Mail; Employee; Employment; Enrollment; Family; Fatigue; Freedom; Funding; Gender; Goals; Health; Healthcare Systems; Homelessness; Housing; Individual; Intervention; Interview; Investigator-Initiated Research; Job Satisfaction; Knowledge; Length; Life; Link; Literature; Longevity; Measures; Medical center; Mental Health; Mental Health Services; Mental disorders; Methods; Modeling; NIH Program Announcements; Occupations; Outcome; Participant; Peer Group; Perception; Performance at work; Positioning Attribute; Principal Investigator; Procedures; Process; Professional counselor; Provider; Qualitative Methods; Quality of life; Questionnaires; Recording of previous events; Recovery; Recovery of Function; Reporting; Research; Resources; Risk; Role; Sampling; Secure; Self Efficacy; Services; Specialist; Strategic Planning; Structure; Substance abuse problem; Support Groups; Surveys; Symptoms; System; Telephone; Telephone Interviews; Testing; Time; Training Programs; Veterans; Vocational rehabilitation; Work; Writing; base; care systems; clinical care; cohort; comparison group; design; enhancing factor; experience; group counseling; group intervention; handbook; health care delivery; indexing; men; peer; programs; prospective; randomized trial; research and development; severe mental illness; skills; statistics; treatment as usual; volunteer; web site

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Background: The VHA is in the process of transforming its mental health care system. As part of this transformation significant resources have been committed to integrating peer providers into existing mental health services both as peer support technicians and as peer vocational rehabilitation specialists. Recovery models and specifically the helper therapy principle, postulate that employment as a peer specialist benefits not only the recipients of services, but also the providers themselves. A current randomized trial led by Dr. Eisen is examining the impact of participating in a peer support program on mental health recovery outcomes of participants. However, there is very little research examining the impact of being a peer provider on the mental health, functioning and community integration of veterans in peer provider positions. The existing literature focuses on outcomes of peer provider training programs, and on personal accounts of being a peer provider. There is currently no systematic empirical evidence regarding the impact of working as a peer specialist on their own recovery. This will be the first study to examine mental health recovery outcomes of peer specialists. The current employment of peer support technicians offers a unique opportunity to systematically examine the mental health and community functioning of veterans working in peer provider roles. Objectives: Objectives are to: 1) examine job functions, responsibilities, experiences, longevity, self- perceived job performance and satisfaction of peer specialists in VA: 2) examine mental health recovery including symptoms and functioning, housing and quality of life in peer specialists and compare them to a sample of CWT participants; 3) examine change in job performance and mental health/recovery over one-year; and 4) identify factors associated with job-related and mental health/recovery outcomes over a one-year period. Although we don't expect the veterans employed as peer support technicians and those hired as vocational rehabilitation counselors to differ in their outcomes, a fifth exploratory aim will be to determine whether there are differences in outcomes between those hired under these two initiatives. Methods: All currently employed peer support technicians and veterans hired as vocational rehab specialists under the Homeless Veterans initiative will be invited to participate in the study by email or by telephone, as will a comparison group of 300 Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) participants. The invitation to the study will provide basic information about the purposes and procedures, and will provide a link to the survey web site. In addition, an information sheet providing all the information that would be included in a written consent form will be included. We will use quantitative and qualitative methods including reliable and valid measures of mental health, recovery and job performance. Individual level data will be obtained by questionnaires to be administered via a secure website upon enrollment in the study and six months and one year later. Semi- structured telephone interviews will be conducted on a subsample of study participants to obtain in depth information about their jobs with specific emphasis on understanding how their skills and experience can be optimally used to contribute to the program in which they are working, and to maximize their impact on veterans' mental health (both those to whom they provide services, and to themselves). Anticipated Impacts: The proposed research will provide systematic information about 1) the impact of being a peer specialist on the mental health, recovery, functioning and community integration including housing stability of veterans serving as peer specialists; and 2) how to enhance the roles of peer specialists to maximize their value in the VA mental health care delivery system. The knowledge we gain will be helpful for guiding further implementation of peer support services in the VHA.

描述（由申请人提供）： 背景：VHA正在改造其精神卫生保健系统。作为这一转变的一部分，投入了大量资源，将同伴提供者作为同伴支助技术人员和同伴职业康复专家纳入现有的心理健康服务。康复模式，特别是辅助治疗原则，假设就业作为一个同行专家不仅受益于服务的接受者，但也提供者本身。目前由Dr. Rehen领导的一项随机试验正在研究参与同伴支持计划对参与者心理健康恢复结果的影响。然而，很少有研究探讨作为同行提供者对心理健康，功能和社区融合的退伍军人在同行提供者的位置的影响。现有的文献侧重于同行供应商培训计划的成果，并在个人帐户的同行供应商。目前还没有系统的经验证据表明，作为同行专家工作对他们自己的恢复的影响。这将是第一项研究检查同行专家的心理健康恢复结果。同行支持技术人员目前的就业提供了一个独特的机会，系统地检查心理健康和社区功能的退伍军人工作在同行提供者的角色。目的：目标是：1）检查工作职能，责任，经验，寿命，自我感知的工作表现和满意度的同行专家在VA：2）检查心理健康恢复，包括症状和功能，住房和生活质量的同行专家，并将其与CWT参与者的样本进行比较; 3）检查一年内工作表现和心理健康/恢复的变化;以及4）确定一年内与工作相关和心理健康/康复结果相关的因素。虽然我们不认为受雇为同伴支持技术人员的退伍军人和受雇为职业康复顾问的退伍军人的结果会有所不同，但第五个探索性目标是确定这两项计划下雇用的退伍军人之间的结果是否存在差异。研究方法：所有目前受雇的同伴支持技术人员和在无家可归退伍军人倡议下被聘为职业康复专家的退伍军人将被邀请通过电子邮件或电话参加研究，以及300名补偿工作疗法（CWT）参与者的对照组。研究邀请函将提供关于目的和程序的基本信息，并提供与调查网站的链接。此外，还将包括一份信息表，提供书面知情同意书中包含的所有信息。我们将使用定量和定性方法，包括可靠和有效的心理健康，恢复和工作表现的措施。个体水平的数据将通过调查问卷获得，调查问卷将在入组研究时以及6个月和1年后通过安全网站进行管理。将对研究参与者的子样本进行半结构化电话采访，以获得有关他们工作的深入信息，特别强调了解如何最佳地利用他们的技能和经验为他们正在工作的项目做出贡献，并最大限度地提高他们对退伍军人心理健康的影响（包括他们提供服务的人，以及他们自己）。预期影响：拟议的研究将提供系统的信息1）作为心理健康，恢复，功能和社区融合的同行专家的影响，包括作为同行专家的退伍军人的住房稳定性;和2）如何加强同行专家的作用，以最大限度地发挥他们在VA心理健康护理提供系统的价值。我们所获得的知识将有助于指导进一步实施同行支持服务的VHA。