A Scoping Study of One-to-One Peer Mentorship Interventions and Recommendations for Application With Veterans With Postdeployment Syndrome

An Innovation to Expand the Reach of Peer Support: A Feasibility and Acceptability Study

INTRODUCTION

Peer support is a well-established part of veteran care and a cost-effective way to support individuals pursuing health behavior change. Common models of peer support, peer coaching, and mutual peer support have limitations that could be minimized by building on the strengths of each to increase the overall reach and effectiveness. We conducted a 12-week, proof-of-concept study to test the acceptability and feasibility of a hybrid model of peer support which supplements dyadic mutual peer support with as-needed peer coaching.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We tested our novel peer support model within the context of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction as a support mechanism for the promotion of heart-healthy diet and exercise behaviors. We recruited peer buddies (participants who would be matched with each other to provide mutual support) with at least one uncontrolled CVD risk factor (i.e., blood pressure, weight, or diabetes) and peer coaches (individuals who would provide additional, as-needed support for peer buddies) with a recent history of CVD health behavior improvement. We aimed for 50% of peer buddies to be women to assess for potential gender differences in intervention engagement. Participants received didactic instruction during three group sessions, and peer dyads were instructed to communicate weekly with their peer buddy to problem-solve around action plans and behavioral goals. We tracked frequency of dyadic communication and conducted semi-structured interviews at the intervention's end to assess acceptability.

RESULTS

We recruited three peer coaches and 12 peer buddies. Ten buddies (five dyads) met at the first group session, and all were still in weekly contact with each other at week 12. Peer buddies had a mean of 8.75 out of 12 possible weekly peer buddy communications (range 6-15 in total). Peer coaches provided additional support to four participants over 12 weeks. Participants reported liking the intervention, including mixed-gender groups. Clarity and expectation setting around the role of peer coaches were important.

CONCLUSIONS

The supplementation of mutual peer support with as-needed peer coaching is an acceptable and feasible way to expand the potential reach and effectiveness of peer support for behavior change among veterans.

Peer Support Activities for Veterans, Serving Members, and Their Families: Results of a Scoping Review

For many, including military veterans and their families, support between individuals with shared lived experiences, or peer support, has long been utilized as a way to support each other through many different challenges. Building on other reviews and guided by the seven domains of well-being in the Canadian veteran well-being framework, the objective of this paper is to describe and catalogue the nature of peer support activities and related outcomes in the veteran, serving member, and family member populations. A scoping review following the five stages outlined by Arksey and O'Malley was conducted; it was guided by the question: What is currently known about peer support activities for veterans, serving members, and their families that has been evaluated in the literature? In total, 101 publications from 6 different countries were included in this review and catalogued based on publication characteristics, participant information, peer support activity information, and peer information. Peer support activities have the potential to positively influence the well-being of veterans, serving members, and their families on a holistic level across multiple domains. This scoping review highlights the existing gaps in the literature and provides an important foundation for future research on peer support for these populations, specifically in the Canadian context.

The feasibility and safety of training patients in opioid treatment to serve as peer recovery support service interventionists

BACKGROUND

The use of peer interventionists may be helpful in addressing problems associated with substance use disorders. However, implementation issues such as training, supervision, and the impact of delivering the intervention on the interventionists themselves require additional examination. This report describes the training methods and peer interventionist outcomes in a pilot study of a single-session Peer Recovery Support Services (PRSS) telephone intervention to facilitate enrollment in medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) treatment. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a pilot study testing a PRSS intervention in adults using illicit opioids who reported a recent non-fatal opioid overdose (N = 80, with 40 PRSS participants). Candidates recruited from MOUD treatment programs were trained to deliver the PRSS intervention. Assessments of adverse events, global health, and peer satisfaction were used to evaluate the effects of serving as an interventionist. Fidelity and proportion of cases enrolling in MOUD were calculated for each interventionist. Results: Four consented candidates were trained to deliver the PRSS intervention to thirty-six study participants (90% PRSS arm). All interventionists successfully maintained fidelity to the PRSS intervention and reported no negative effects. Interventionists experienced differential success in encouraging treatment enrollment ranging from 16%-60% of their cases. Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrates promise in utilizing peer interventionists to deliver a brief PRSS intervention with limited training and no reported negative effects on the interventionists themselves. Factors contributing to the differential success of the interventionists are unclear. Future research on the variable efficacy of peer interventionists is warranted to identify, quantify, and evaluate specific interactional elements associated with peer efficacy. Additionally, further evaluation of training, supervision practices, and the effects of serving as a PRSS interventionist, is needed. Trial Registration: Clinical Trials.gov http://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Identifier: NCT02922959.

Peer Support Interventions in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: A Framework to Advance the Field

Peer support is a central tenet of the Disability Rights Movement and is based on the recognition that experiential knowledge and shared experiences provide opportunities for informational, emotional, and appraisal support among people with physical disabilities. "Peer support interventions" is an umbrella term used to describe a range of ancillary services provided by people with disabilities to people with disabilities, including peer mentoring, peer health education, and peer health navigation. A growing body of research documents the development, implementation, and outcomes of peer support interventions for people with physical disabilities in physical medicine and rehabilitation. The organization, structure, and objectives of peer support interventions vary tremendously, making it difficult to synthesize findings across studies and establish best practices to support their systematic implementation across the continuum of care. This article is a call to action for greater conceptual clarity in how peer support interventions are developed, implemented, and evaluated. We propose a 9-part evidence-informed framework delineating both theory-driven and contextual considerations to help strengthen the evidence base of peer support interventions for people with disabilities in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism, trauma burden, and posttraumatic stress symptoms in U.S. military veterans: Results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

BACKGROUND

Previous research examining the association between apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene polymorphism and risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been inconsistent due to the use of small and select samples. This study examined the relation between APOE genotype and PTSD symptoms in two nationally representative samples of U.S. military veterans. The potential effect of cumulative trauma burden and social support in moderating this association was also evaluated.

METHODS

The main sample consisted of 1,386 trauma-exposed European American (EA) veterans (mean age: 62-63 years) who participated in the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (NHRVS) in 2011. The independent replication sample consisted of 509 trauma-exposed EA veterans from the 2013 NHRVS.

RESULTS

APOE ε4 allele carriers reported significantly greater severity of PTSD symptoms than noncarriers in the main, but not the replication, sample. In both samples, the interaction of APOE ε4 carrier status and cumulative trauma burden was associated with greater severity of PTSD symptoms (F range = 2.53-8.09, all P's < .01), particularly re-experiencing/intrusion symptoms (F range = 3.59-4.24, P's < .001). Greater social support was associated with lower severity of PTSD symptoms among APOE ε4 allele carriers with greater cumulative trauma burden (β range -.27 to -.60, P's < .05).

CONCLUSION

U.S. military veterans who are APOE ε4 allele carriers and exposed to a high number of traumas may be at increased risk for developing PTSD symptoms than ε4 noncarriers. Greater social support may moderate this association, thereby highlighting the potential importance of social support promoting interventions in mitigating the effect of ε4 × cumulative trauma burden on PTSD risk.

Informing design of an app-based coaching intervention to promote social participation of teenagers with traumatic brain injury

OBJECTIVE

To examine perspectives of multiple stakeholders to inform the design of an app-based coaching intervention to promote social participation in teenagers with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

METHODS

Teenagers and college students with and without TBI and parents of teenagers with TBI were recruited from two children's hospitals and two universities in the USA (n = 39). Data were collected via interviews, focus groups, and surveys and examined using descriptive statistics and content analyses.

RESULTS

Teenagers with TBI reported more social participation barriers and fewer strategies for addressing these barriers than teenagers without TBI. There was consensus across groups about the value of college student coaches and use of smartphones and apps. Participants expressed mixed views on the use of chat rooms and degree of parent involvement.

CONCLUSION

Results provided insights about the possible benefits of the intervention, and informed its initial design (e.g., desired coach qualities, and type of coach training and supervision).

Effective Self-Management Interventions for Patients With Lupus: Potential Impact of Peer Mentoring

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with significant mortality, morbidity and cost for the individual patient and society. In the United States, African Americans (AAs) have 3-4 times greater prevalence of lupus, risk of developing lupus at an earlier age and lupus-related disease activity, organ damage and mortality compared with whites. Evidence-based self-management interventions that incorporate both social support and health education have reduced pain, improved function and delayed disability among patients with lupus. However, AAs and women are still disproportionately affected by lupus. This article presents the argument that peer mentoring may be an especially effective intervention approach for AA women with SLE. SLE peers with a track record of success in lupus management and have a personal perspective that clinicians often lack. This commonality and credibility can establish trust, increase communication and, in turn, decrease disparities in healthcare outcomes.

Psychosocial Pathways Linking Adverse Childhood Experiences to Mental Health in Recently Deployed Canadian Military Service Members

Multiple pathways have been suggested to account for the relationship of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and well-being in adulthood, including interpersonal difficulties, the underestimation of one's sense of mastery, and a greater propensity to experience stressors later in life. This study was conducted to examine the association between ACEs and mental health in Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel, and the possible mediating roles of social support, mastery, and combat stressors in that relationship. The study consisted of a prospective analysis involving 3,319 CAF members upon their return from an overseas deployment. Results were that ACEs were associated with poorer mental health (β = -.14, p < .001) and that approximately 42.6% of this relationship could be explained by the mediating effects of low social support, low mastery, and a greater number of combat stressors. The full model, including the covariates, ACEs, social support, mastery, and combat stressors as correlates of postdeployment mental health, was statistically significant with adjusted R(2) = .28, F(9, 3309) = 141.96, p < .001. On the whole, results suggested that social support, mastery, and life stressors may be possible targets for interventions to minimize the impact of ACEs on later mental health in military personnel.

Development and initial testing of a tailored telephone intervention delivered by peers to prevent recurring opioid-overdoses (TTIP-PRO)

Individuals with opioid use disorder experiencing a non-fatal opioid-overdose (OOD) are at heightened risk for future OODs; there are no interventions to facilitate treatment enrollment for these patients. Our goal was to develop and initially test the 'tailored telephone intervention delivered by peers to prevent recurring opioid-overdoses' (TTIP-PRO), a computer-facilitated, peer-delivered, individually tailored secondary prevention intervention designed to: (i) encourage patients to initiate medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and (ii) increase OOD knowledge. A pre-post-study assessed TTIP-PRO-content acceptability and software performance. Two Peer Interventionists, who were abstinent from illicit opioids, enrolled in MAT and had experience with OOD, were recruited from a MAT clinic. Recruitment letters were sent to patients treated for OOD in a hospital emergency department within the prior 8 months. Eight patients received TTIP-PRO and completed pre-/post-assessment. Peer Interventionists completed training within 4 h and reported high satisfaction with TTIP-PRO. There were no performance issues with the software. All participants rated TTIP-PRO as 'very helpful'. Participants' OOD knowledge increased significantly, with 69.9% correct responses pre-TTIP-PRO and 93.6% post-TTIP-PRO. Interest in receiving MAT, measured on a 10-point scale, increased from 8.1 to 9.5, but this change was not statistically significant. Further development and testing of TTIP-PRO appears warranted.