Receptivity to a peer counselling program and recovery atmosphere as perceived by Veterans Health Administration peer support specialists and supervisors

ABSTRACT

Peer support is an important component in the promotion of recovery for people with serious mental illness. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has implemented peer support services nationally. This study used a series of questions about the perceived acceptance of peer services at VA facilities and the Recovery Self-Assessment (RSA), a standard measure of recovery attitudes, to evaluate and compare responses of a convenience sample of peer support specialists (PSS) and local peer supervisors (LPS). The authors hypothesized that level of receptivity of program among PSS and LPS will be high and that the scores on the five RSA domains will be comparable. The level of perceived receptivity was quite high for PSS and LPS and it was strongly correlated with recovery attitudes. Moreover, PSS scored significantly higher than LPS, on the Receptivity measure and on several domains of the RSA. RSA scores in this study were slightly higher than, or similar to, those observed in other VHA and non-VHA samples. PSS rated their programs as more receptive to peer services and more recovery oriented than their supervisors. The results of this study provide evidence of the successful implementation of this program in VHA and demonstrates an efficient approach and a first step in the evaluation of peer support services.

KEYWORDS:

• Health care professionals
• mental health
• peer support specialists
• recovery