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Peer and Non-Peer Co-Facilitation of a Health and Wellness Intervention for Adults with Serious Mental Illness

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Abstract

Peer specialists, or individuals with lived experience of mental health conditions who support the mental health recovery of others, often work side-by-side with traditional providers (non-peers) in the delivery of treatment groups. The present study aimed to examine group participant and peer provider experiences with peer and non-peer group co-facilitation. Data from a randomized controlled trial of Living Well, a peer and non-peer co-facilitated intervention for medical illness management for adults with serious mental illness, were utilized. A subset of Living Well participants (n = 16) and all peer facilitators (n = 3) completed qualitative interviews. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using a general inductive approach and thematic analysis. The complementary perspectives of the facilitators, teamwork between them, skillful group pacing, and peer facilitator self-disclosure contributed to a warm, respectful, and interactive group atmosphere, which created an environment conducive to social learning. Guidelines for successful co-facilitation emerging from this work are described.

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Availability of Data and Material

Data will not be deposited.

Funding

This research was supported by the VA Health Services Research and Development Service (IIR 11–216; Dr. Goldberg, principal investigator), the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service (CDA IK2RX002339, Dr. Muralidharan, principal investigator; CDA IK2RX001836, Dr. Klingaman, principal investigator; and CDA IK2 RX002159, Dr. Hack, principal investigator), and the VISN 5 MIRECC. Dr. Fortuna was funded by a K01 award from the National Institute of Mental Health (K01MH117496).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Veterans Affairs (VA) Capitol Health Care Network (VISN 5), Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Baltimore, MD, USA

    Anjana Muralidharan, Amanda D. Peeples, Samantha M. Hack, Elizabeth A. Klingaman, Peter Phalen, Alicia Lucksted & Richard W. Goldberg

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Anjana Muralidharan, Amanda D. Peeples, Elizabeth A. Klingaman, Peter Phalen, Alicia Lucksted & Richard W. Goldberg

  3. University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Samantha M. Hack

  4. Geisel School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH, USA

    Karen L. Fortuna

  5. CDC Health Promotion Research Center, Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA

    Karen L. Fortuna

  6. Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA

    Naomi F. Stahl

Authors
  1. Anjana Muralidharan
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  2. Amanda D. Peeples
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  3. Samantha M. Hack
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  4. Karen L. Fortuna
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  5. Elizabeth A. Klingaman
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  6. Naomi F. Stahl
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  7. Peter Phalen
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  8. Alicia Lucksted
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  9. Richard W. Goldberg
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Contributions

Dr. Goldberg obtained study funding and oversaw data collection. Drs. Peeples, Hack, Klingaman, and Lucksted worked on data collection. Drs. Muralidharan, Peeples, Fortuna, and Lucksted conceptualized the present study question. Drs. Muralidharan, Peeples, Hack, and Fortuna conducted data analysis. Dr. Muralidharan wrote the first draft of the manuscript and oversaw the writing and editing process. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anjana Muralidharan.

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Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the VA, the U.S. government, or other affiliated institutions.

Ethics Approval

All study procedures were approved by the appropriate Institutional Review Boards.

Consent to Participate

All participants completed written informed consent.

Consent for Publication

As part of the written informed consent process, participants were informed that data from the study may be published.

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Muralidharan, A., Peeples, A.D., Hack, S.M. et al. Peer and Non-Peer Co-Facilitation of a Health and Wellness Intervention for Adults with Serious Mental Illness. Psychiatr Q 92, 431–442 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09818-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09818-2

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