A peer support specialist is a person with "lived experience" who has been trained to support those who struggle with mental health, psychological trauma, or substance use. Their personal experience of these challenges provide peer support specialists with expertise that professional training cannot replicate.[1]
Some roles filled by peer support specialists include assisting their peers in articulating their goals for recovery, learning and practicing new skills, helping them monitor their progress, supporting them in their treatment, modeling effective coping techniques and self-help strategies based on the specialist's own recovery experience, supporting them in advocating for themselves to obtain effective services, and developing and implementing recovery plans.[2]
In 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services recognized peer support services as an evidence-based practice. It also informed all 50 state Medicaid directors that The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would pay for peer support services, provided that peer support specialists—like other types of healthcare providers—were governed by a statewide training and credentialing program.[3] As of 2016,[update] 42 US states, the District of Columbia, and the Veterans' Administration have adopted such programs to train and certify individuals to work as peer support specialists.[4]
- ^ Bulletin MSA 07-52: Revisions to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Chapter (PDF) (Report). Michigan Department of Community Health. September 1, 2007.
- ^ "Certified Peer Specialist Job Description". Georgia Peer Specialist Certification Project. March 2003.
- ^ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2007). State Medicaid Director letter on peer support services. SMDL 07-011.
- ^ Chapman, Susan (2018). "Emerging Roles for Peer Providers in Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 54 (6 Suppl 3). University of Texas at Austin: S267–S274. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2018.02.019. PMID 29779551.