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Peer Support for Older Adults

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Peer Support in Medicine

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Abstract

As the number of older adults increases worldwide, supplementing healthcare interventions with peer support has the potential to mitigate workforce challenges in a way that capitalizes upon a developmental strength of later life—prioritizing relationships. Peer support interventions for older adults include peer companionship (peers are older adults), peer specialists (peers are individuals in recovery from mental health or substance use disorders), and patient navigation (peers are individuals diagnosed with the same health condition). Peer companionship programs aim to reduce loneliness and isolation and help older adults remain independent in the community by providing instrumental support and/or respite for caregivers. Peer specialist programs aim to promote treatment engagement for health conditions, including via self-management. Patient navigation programs aim to promote full engagement in healthcare by helping individuals navigate services. We describe example programs and evidence on effectiveness and also discuss the concept of social prescribing, which has the potential to increase the number of older adults who receive peer support programs by linking healthcare and community agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA

    Kimberly A. Van Orden & Julie Lutz

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  1. Kimberly A. Van Orden
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  2. Julie Lutz
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Correspondence to Kimberly A. Van Orden .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Director of Addiction Psychiatry, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Jonathan D. Avery

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Van Orden, K.A., Lutz, J. (2021). Peer Support for Older Adults. In: Avery, J.D. (eds) Peer Support in Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58660-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58660-7_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-58659-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-58660-7

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