The Peer Recovery Support Specialist (PRSS), a certified professional who self-identifies as being in recovery from a substance use disorder (SUD), mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, plays a key role in the ongoing transformation of SUD treatment from one of acute clinical service provision with documented short-term outcomes including symptom reduction, to a more holistic and comprehensive approach to long-term recovery. Empirical evidence specific to outcomes of PRSS working in the addiction treatment realm is sparse and equivocal, indicating the need for additional research and improved methods designed to explore the nature of the PRSS role and fit within the expanding models of a recovery eco-system. This sequential exploratory mixed-methods study surveyed PRSS in five states of Central Appalachia in order to better understand the nature of their work, personal recovery characteristics and their interactions within existing recovery ecosystems. The final sample included 565 PRSS. Results indicate that PRSS frequently provide emotional support to persons they work with and are overwhelmingly satisfied with their work but have few professional advancement opportunities and generally feel that others misunderstand their role. They have a strong voice and wish to be heard as evidenced by their responses to open text questions and interest in future work. This baseline survey can serve as the beginning of a framework for improved methods if driven by PRSS.

Residential relocation requiring a change of school enrollment can negatively disrupt academic achievement, extracurricular participation, attendance, and ability to appropriately regulate emotions/behaviors. This disruption impacts military-affiliated students every 2 to 3 years. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively inform Student 2 Student’s (S2S’s) continued development and the Military Child Education Coalition’s (MCEC’s) pursuit of better serving newly relocated students. This will help the program to reach beyond good intentions and mitigate the perils of assuming that benefits occur without quantitative support. The three-factory model of Academic Resiliency was used as the theoretical framework guiding this study. Two American public high schools with similar demographics were requested to provide data for all new 9th through 12th graders, who enrolled in the school district for the first time during the 2018-19 academic year. A Mann-Whitney U was used to compare grade point averages (GPA), attendance percentages, number of extracurricular activities, and number of behavioral referrals for 179 students at a school with S2S to 97 students at a school without S2S. The 2 groups showed statistically significant differences across all 4 dependent variables. For example, the S2S group showed higher levels of extracurricular participation and fewer behavioral referrals than the control group. Additionally, a positive relationship between attendance and GPA was supported for the control group more than the S2S group. Overall, the results of this study quantitatively inform S2S’s continued development and the MCEC’s pursuit of better serving newly relocated students worldwide, which assists to create positive social change.

The objective of the thesis is description of a new position of a peer consultant in the area of the mental health care from the view of a working team into which he enters. Furthermore, the thesis wants to submit a report about the form of this role abroad and about specific factors during his implementation into the team. The collection of data of qualitative research was realized among 12 social workers and 4 peers in three working teams three times within one year. The research methods that were used: interview according to guideline, nonparticipant structured observation of team meetings and time axis. Data from interviews were processed by inductive method inspired by grounded theory (open, axial and selective coding). The research question was focused on the process, positives and difficulties during integration of the peer worker into the working team. Research proved that the main obstacles in the successful integration of a peer were insufficient and quick preparation of a team on the peer position; absence of the social workers during the recruitment; bad technical equipment; lack of clients suitable for peer and personal discrepancy between a peer and the rest of a working team. On the contrary, the factors that acted favourably were workshops of the team with more experienced...

Denna studie är en utvärdering av ett motivationsprojekt, vid namn motivationsgruppen, inom psykiatrisk öppenvård i Västerbottens län. Motivationsgruppens mål var att öka livskvalitén för patienter med långvarig psykisk ohälsa med gruppmotiverande samtal. Syfte: Syftet med föreliggande studie är att belysa gruppdeltagarnas och samtalsledarnas erfarenheter av motivationsgruppen som helhet samt MI som samtalsmetod, med tonvikt på förväntningar och utfall samt specifikt positiva och negativa upplevelser. Metod: Tio intervjuer med två samtalsledare och tre gruppdeltagare har utförts vid två tillfällen, ett frågeformulär till gruppdeltagare har skickats ut samt information om gruppens samansättning (kön, diagnos, sysselsättning etc.) har inhämtats. En innehållsanalys har utförts på det insamlade materialet. Resultat: Visar att ingen livsstilsförändring har kunnat konstateras med hjälp av motivationsgruppen. Däremot har de intervjuade gruppdeltagarna redovisat en ökad socialisering och mindre isolering. Fikastunden har presenterats som den viktigaste aspekten med motivationsgruppen. Diskussion: Det finns möjligheter till utveckling av motivationsgruppen. Gruppdeltagarnas samt motivationsgruppens syfte överensstämde inte med varandra, vilket har problematiserat förutsättningarna. De positiva effekterna som bruten isolering har redovisat är mer förenligt med peer-supportkonceptet än motiverande samtal. Mer utvärdering angående motivationsgruppen behövs för att synliggöra eventuella livsstilsförändringar sker med hjälp av gruppen.

ABSTRACT   The aim of this study is to examine which factors people with mental illness describe as contributing to their recovery process. The aim is also to examine the importance of club houses. The study is based on ten qualitative interviews from people with experience of mental illness and the empirical data was analyzed using a qualitative content analysis. The main results highlight four different facilitating factors; social network, equality, meeting other people with mental illness and individual resources and strategies. The social network was described as a prerequisite to the recovery process, but the study also shows that meeting peers with similar experiences played a key role. Being treated as an equal by professionals they came in contact with during their recovery process contributed to their own sense of self and facilitated the feeling of participation. The results also emphasize the importance of one’s own resources and strategies. By realizing what part they had played in their own recovery process it brought on a feeling of pride and achievement. The result from this study aim to provide a deeper understanding of the contributing factors in the recovery process which may have importance for social services to people with mental instabilities.

This qualitative study focuses on a peer support system created and facilitated by a high school student. The peer support group was multifaceted, including one component on Facebook™. A review of literature on bullying, cyberbullying, Communities of Practice and hyperpersonal communications was compiled, studied and analyzed. The case study was comprised of a four one-on-one interviews with the creator of the support system, in which she discussed her experiences throughout its facilitation. The study discusses all the components that made up the support system and the benefits for the creator and students involved at her high school. The study focuses on the use of Facebook™ as a medium for support, in particular, the anonymity it allowed for the members of the support system to share. I utilized this study to identify the benefits of support systems for students that are facilitated and governed through peers.

This column is a continuation in a series describing how collaboration among relevant stakeholders (e.g., parents, mental health professionals, community members) can enhance the implementation of effective practices to support children’s learning and development. In the previous column in the series, we described a variety of roles peers can have in the implementation of effective practices for students with and at risk for disabilities and strategies for developing and sustaining peer support programs in schools (Rowe et al., 2022). The purpose of this column is to describe different approaches to promote parent collaboration in the implementation of effective practices while addressing challenges that can undermine a collaborative process.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka samtalsbehandlares upplevelser samt kännedom om sekundär traumatisering. Studien syftar också till att undersöka samtalsbehandlares tankar om vad som kan förebygga samt hur eventuella negativa effekter av att arbeta med klienter som upplevt trauma kan hanteras. Sekundär traumatisering innebär att själv bli traumatiserad efter att ha tagit del av någon annans traumatiska berättelse. Tidigare forskning visar att socialarbetare anses vara i riskzonen för att drabbas av sekundär traumatisering. Detta kan medföra negativa konsekvenser, exempelvis i form av utbrändhet samt fysiska sjukdomar hos den drabbade. För att svara på studiens frågeställningar användes en kvalitativ studie i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Två teorier, känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) och copingteorin, användes som stöd under analysprocessen. I studien utfördes fem intervjuer av samtalsbehandlare som arbetar med våld i nära relation eller vuxna i missbruk. Studiens resultat visade att tre av respondenterna kände igen sig i beskrivningen av sekundär traumatisering genom att de har eller har haft symtom. Ingen av samtalsbehandlarna hade fått kunskap om sekundär traumatisering under deras grundutbildning medan två av samtalsbehandlarna saknade kunskap om fenomenet i nutid. Samtliga respondenter upplevde att deras arbete var meningsfullt och lyfte betydelsen av det kollegiala stödet i relation till arbetet med klienter som upplevt trauma. / The purpose of this study is to examine therapists' experiences and knowledge of secondary traumatization. At the same time, this study aims to examine therapists' thoughts regarding how eventual negative effects from working with clients who have experienced trauma can be handled or prevented. Secondary traumatization can be described as a phenomenon where a person gets traumatized by someone else’s traumatic story. Previous research shows that social workers are at risk to suffer from secondary traumatization, which can lead to negative consequences such as burnout and physical diseases in the affected person. To answer the research questions of this study, a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews was used. Two theories, sense of coherence (SOC) and coping theory were used as helping tools in the analysis process. Five interviews were conducted by therapists who work with domestic violence or adults in addiction. The result of this study showed that three of the respondents could relate to the description of secondary traumatization in the sense that they have or have had symptoms. None of the therapists had gained knowledge of secondary traumatization during their undergraduate education while two of them did not have knowledge of the phenomenon in the present time. All respondents experienced that their job was meaningful and highlighted the importance of peer support when working with clients who have experienced trauma.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur influencers porträtterar psykisk ohälsa på Instagram i text och bild. Metoden är en digital etnografi, med en tematisk analys. Datamaterialet består av sexinfluencer och 41 Instagram-inlägg. Studiens resultat visar att influencer använder sig av olika taktiker för att genereraföljare och ekonomisk vinst i samtalet om psykisk ohälsa. Psykisk ohälsa har både visat sig idenna studie som ett sätt att skapa intima band med sina följare genom att samtala om sina erfarenheter. Men även ett sätt att skapa en förtroende basis med sina följare för att de ska vara lojala nog att köpa sådant som influencers marknadsför. Arbetet utförs genom känsloarbete och intrycksstyrning. Ett arbete för att få den främre regionen att framstå som den bakre, för att på så sätt framställa sig själv som äkta.

Background: Public safety personnel (PSP) such as paramedics and police are exposed to traumatic situations which increases their risk for mental health issues. However, many PSP do not seek help in a timely manner. Peer support interventions have the potential to decrease stigma and increase treatment-seeking behaviours among PSP. However, little is known regarding how the organizational culture of public safety organizations (PSOs) may affect the implementation of a peer-based intervention. This study aims to understand the extent to which organizational culture, including masculinity contest cultures (MCC), within Canadian PSOs affects implementation of PeerOnCall, a new peer support app for PSP. Methods: A multiple case study design was adopted, integrating semi-structured interviews and a standardized MCC scale completed with organizational champions from three PSOs. Two to three champions from each PSO acted as key informants regarding their organizations. Interviews explored champions’ perceptions of how organizational culture might shape implementation. Interview data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Interview data were also triangulated with MCC scale data to understand the extent to which an MCC exists and is important to consider when implementing this app-based intervention. Results: Interviews with champions resulted in the construction of four themes. The first theme focused on external drivers of organizational culture shift, while the second theme focused on internal drivers. The third theme focused on how culture can create resistance to implementation. The fourth theme emphasized that culturally competent implementation strategies could overcome this resistance Most participants perceived their organization to have low-to-moderate levels of MCC. Discussion/Conclusions: Each organization had a unique and changing culture, as evidenced through its cultural artifacts, beliefs, and values. Understanding how culture shapes implementation of PeerOnCall can guide the creation of contextually relevant strategies that optimize implementation of PeerOnCall within PSOs. Recommendations for strategies and further study are provided. / Thesis / Master of Public Health (MPH) / This multi-site case study explores how first responder culture influences implementation of the PeerOnCall peer support app. Interviews and surveys were conducted with seven workplace champions from one police and two paramedic organization(s). Interviews explored organizational culture in general while surveys focused on masculinity contest culture specifically. It was observed that: external and internal drivers of culture shift have created a window of opportunity for PeerOnCall implementation; cultures of mistrust, skepticism & apathy, and hegemonic masculinity can create resistance to implementation; and culturally competent implementation strategies can overcome this. Traditional norms of masculinity appeared to be changing within the organizations. While public safety organizations’ cultures have been studied, this study links culture to the implementation of a specific intervention and offers nuance to the issue of masculinity contest cultures. Findings can inform the creation of culturally competent strategies that optimize the implementation of resources such as PeerOnCall among first responders.