The effects of peer support are now to be evaluated in an RCT study
The professional role of peer supporter has gradually grown in Sweden over the past decade, in psychiatry, social psychiatry, and schools. But how beneficial is this initiative? And what difference does it make to the individual receiving support from a peer supporter? This is what researchers at UserInvolve want to study, which is now possible thanks to new funding from Forte.
I don't think I've ever been so emotionally “charged” for a project before
The study will be conducted in collaboration with regional NSPH associations and municipalities and regions involved in ongoing peer support initiatives in Sweden.
-It feels fantastic! It's great to be part of UserInvolve, which works so much with participation, together with NSPH and other actors. There is such a high level of community spirit. I don't think I've ever been so emotionally ‘charged’ when applying for a project before! That makes the news that we have been granted research funding feel even more special, says Elisabeth Argentzell, associate professor at Lund University and project manager for the Peer Support study.
Over a three-year period, the effects of a profession-specific peer support intervention for users of social psychiatric and psychiatric services will be studied through a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
-This will be the first time that the effects of a peer support intervention have been evaluated scientifically in a Swedish context. We hope that this study will strengthen the peer support profession. In the long term, we hope that the results of the study will strengthen peer support and, by extension, improve today's social psychiatry and psychiatry and make it more recovery-oriented, says Elisabeth Argentzell.
Text: Lisa Ringström (translated from Swedish)
Facts: Intervention usually means that researchers study a working method and/or a method. This is often done by conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT). It is a way of studying the effect of one treatment method in relation to another established method or no treatment at all. The fact that the study is randomized means that those participating in the study are randomly divided into two or more groups, which are then given different treatments to be compared.
