A peer support training and supervision program for Veterans and families: Development and preliminary results

LAY SUMMARY Behavioural health peer support connects individuals to needed professional services (e.g., counselling) and provides benefits in groups of people that might face more challenges, like military Veterans. Different training exists for peer supporters, but not a lot of information is available to demonstrate whether these trainings, or checking in with trained peers, is helpful. This study took a peer support training program used in fire service and updated it to fit the needs of Veterans and Veteran family members (V/VFM) in Texas, United States. Texas has a lot of Veterans and lacks enough mental health providers (e.g., psychologists). In this study, V/VFM were trained in peer support skills and had six months of peer check-in calls after the training. The trainees completed a test before training asking about their engagement and confidence with helping others, as well as a test after training asking these questions again and assessing satisfaction with training. Results show training was appropriate and acceptable. V/VFM appreciated the check ins and showed increases in confidence in their ability to help others. They tried to help more peers and were more successful when they did reach out. This study describes one way peer support can improve mental health access. Introduction: Behavioural health peer support bridges service gaps and provides benefits in at-risk populations such as military Veterans. Existing training methods vary considerably. There are few data examining the impact of these trainings and few studies addressing supervision of peers. The study team adapted and piloted peer support training (PST) used in fire service for Veterans and Veteran family members (V/VFM) in Texas, United States. Texas has many Veterans and rural communities and a shortage of mental health providers. Methods: V/VFM completed the PST followed by six monthly supervision calls. Participants completed pre-training measures of engagement and self-efficacy and post-training measures evaluating training components, satisfaction/credibility, and changes in self-efficacy. Results: Results indicate this curriculum was feasible and acceptable. During follow-up, participants reported being satisfied with supervision, increased self-efficacy, and increased numbers of outreach attempts/successful outreach attempts. Discussion: This study describes one method of using peer support to extend mental health care in a state with access challenges.