Examining the Supportive Role of Peer Support Specialists in Substance Abuse Treatment

Background and Purpose:

Peer support is an integral component of a recovery model, in which services are provided by people who have personal experience with addiction and recovery.  Being able to share their own story and recovery experience is a key component of the peer support specialist (PSS) role. PSS have the opportunity to work alongside social workers and other providers within substance abuse treatment agencies. This study examined the role PSS play in the treatment setting and unique components they bring to the treatment experience for both clients and other agency staff. The study demonstrates the value that PSS can bring to clients in treatment and recovery, with implications for social work education, practice, and policy.

Methods:

In this qualitative study, project staff conducted interviews with staff and clients at a substance abuse treatment agency in the southeastern United States. Participants included 3 peer support specialists, 8 other agency staff, and 22 clients. Most participants (97%) were female, and the majority were White (72.7%), followed by African American (24.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3%). Most participants were 45 years old or under with the mean age being 40.42. Interview prompts were tailored for the different stakeholder groups (e.g., PSS, other staff, clients) and addressed the PSS role and responsibilities, unique contributions to services, strengths, and challenges. Qualitative interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using MaxQDA software and a grounded-theory approach.

Results:

An emergent theme in the interviews concerned the nature of support provided by PSS: emotional, instrumental, informational, and affiliational. Excerpts from qualitative interviews are used to illustrate each type of support. Emotional support was mentioned by many respondents as being particularly important. The majority of clients (n=16) shared stories about emotional support with themes that included feeling like the PSS was there for them, not feeling alone during treatment, and feeling more comfortable pursuing recovery. Specifically, 14 people mentioned emotional support from the PSS being valuable because they were able to be honest without fear of judgment. Clients (n=14) also mentioned receiving instrumental support in the forms of transportation and assistance with housing and employment. Informational support was mentioned by 10 clients and included education on recovery tools and recognizing addiction as a disease. Affiliational support was mentioned by 12 clients and came in the form of connections to community support systems such as AA.

Conclusions and Implications:

Peer support specialists complement other agency staff by filling a unique supportive role. They are able to provide emotional support that is based in their own recovery experience which helps clients feel comfortable. Given this role, PSS have the opportunity to be both significant collaborators and resources for social workers in treatment settings. We can better prepare social workers, other professionals, and community volunteers for this type of collaborative service provision through education and training on the PSS role. Further, the value of PSS in substance abuse treatment and other social work settings has implications for behavioral health policy and practice, particularly in promoting financial sustainability of such services.