Abstract
Little is known about the involvement of peer providers in integrated behavioral health teams. This study asks where peer providers fit within integrated care teams in Los Angeles County. Social network analysis combined with qualitative fieldwork was used to understand the network positions of peer providers in 14 integrated pilot programs. Four programs’ peer providers were highly central, while 3 programs’ were on the network’s periphery. Positional variation appeared to be related to the peers’ mental health status. Targeted efforts are needed to support the implementation of peer providers on integrated teams at the program and system levels.
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Funding
This study was funded by a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) TL1 [National Institutes of Health/National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) (SC CTSI) TL1 for Pre-doctoral Clinical and Translational Training (TL1) Award (TL1R000132)]. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institutes of Health.
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The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study. All data have been de-identified.
Research Involving Human Participants
The Institutional Review Board of University of California, San Diego, Human Research Protection Program, and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development approved the social network component of this study, whereas the Institutional Review Board of the University of Southern California approved the study’s qualitative component.
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Siantz, E., Rice, E., Henwood, B. et al. Where do Peer Providers Fit into Newly Integrated Mental Health and Primary Care Teams? A Mixed Method Study. Adm Policy Ment Health 45, 538–549 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-017-0843-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-017-0843-9