Effectiveness of a community-based peer support service among persons suffering severe mental illness in China

PeerJ

article

Yunge Fan¹  Ning Ma¹  Aili Ouyang⁵  Wufang Zhang¹  Manxi He⁵  Yong Chen⁵  Jin Liu⁶  Zhongxiang Li⁷  Junlan Yang⁶  Liang Ma⁸  Eric D. Caine⁹ 

[1] Peking University Sixth Hospital;Peking University Institute of Mental Health;Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health ,(Peking University);National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders ,(Peking University Sixth Hospital);The Fourth People’s Hospital of Chengdu;Pengzhou Mental Health Center;Department of Psychiatry, Chengdu Dekang Hospital;Third hospital of Chaoyang district, Beijing Chaoyang District Mental Disease Prevention and Control Center;Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center

关键词: Peer support service;    Community;    Severe mental illness;    Effectiveness;    China;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.14091

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCommunity-based peer support service is widely and effectively deployed for persons suffering severe mental illness (SMI) in countries with well-developed outpatient mental health systems. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a 1-year peer service project among persons with SMI implemented in China.MethodsA total of 101 consumers (service recipients) and 66 family caregivers were recruited at baseline from communities located in Beijing and Chengdu. Severity of psychiatric symptoms, personal and social functioning, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and medication adherence were evaluated among consumers. Self-esteem, life satisfaction, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were assessed among family caregivers. Participants were reevaluated at 1 year with the same measures. Changes in outcomes from baseline to 1-year follow-up were examined using paired sample t tests or Stuart-Maxwell tests.ResultsConsumers’ psychiatric symptoms were decreased at 1 year (p < 0.001). Their personal and social functioning (p = 0.003) and life satisfaction (p < 0.001) were increased. There were no improvements in self-esteem (p = 0.108) and medication adherence (ps ≥ 0.827) among consumers. For caregivers, no increases were presented in outcomes at the 1-year assessment (ps ≥ 0.164).ConclusionsThe findings suggest that peer support services could be sustainably implemented across China, with positive impacts on the psychiatric symptoms, social functioning, and life satisfaction of participants suffering SMI.

【 授权许可】

CC BY