Peer support could reduce readmission to mental health crisis units

Care from peer support workers with lived experience of mental health conditions may help reduce the likelihood of readmission for people who have recently left acute mental health care, finds a new UCL-led study. The research, published today in The Lancet , found that close to 24% fewer people who received peer support were readmitted to acute care within a year, compared to people who only received a workbook.  "People discharged from community crisis services are often readmitted to acute care. Not only does this impede recovery, but also consumes resources that might otherwise be dedicated to longer term improvements in functioning and quality of life. Peer support workers could provide support and encouragement that is particularly warm and empathetic because it is rooted in personal experience, as well as providing service users with a role model for their recovery," said lead author Professor Sonia Johnson (UCL Psychiatry). In the UK, more than half of people admitted to acute care are readmitted within a year, but there is no robust evidence on how these readmissions can be reduced. Support from people with lived experience of mental health problems is used in programmes such as the NHS' Implementing Recovery through Organisational Change and the USA's Wellness Recovery Action Plan. This study is the first randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of such peer support programmes.