Abstract
Interest in navigation services in the mental health and/or addiction (MHA) sphere has grown over the past decade. However, little is known about the value of caregiver peer support in enhancing the navigation process. The Parent Advocate with Lived experience (PAL) service at the Family Navigation Project (FNP) provides peer support to caregivers supporting youth with MHA concerns. Caregivers (n = 26) were asked to rate their perceptions of their caregiver experience retrospectively and then 7 weeks following contact with FNP. A repeated-measures MANOVA comparing participants who had and had not accessed PAL services demonstrated a significant main effect of time, (F(15, 8) = 5.82, p = .008, \(\eta_{{\text{p}}}^{2}\) = .916), and a significant time-by-group interaction, (F(15, 8) = 3.69, p = .034, \(\eta_{{\text{p}}}^{2}\) = .874), signifying participants who accessed PAL services had more positive perceptions about their caregiving experience compared to participants who had not accessed PAL service. These findings support the future development of caregiver peer support roles within MHA services.
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Partial financial support for this study was received through the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Summer Studentship at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (KB).
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RM, SW, KD, and AL contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation was conducted by RM, SC, SW, KD, and AL. Data collection and analysis were performed by KB, SC, RM, and AL. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KB and RM. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Markoulakis, R., Bowles, K., Chan, S. et al. Changes in Perception of Caregiving Experience Following Caregiver Peer Support Within a Mental Health and Addictions Navigation Service. Community Ment Health J 58, 740–748 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00879-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00879-6