Perhaps extended periods of intervention result in negative interactions with peers involving co-rumination, cyberbullying and trolling that can negatively impact physical and mental health (Naslund et al., 2014). Randomized control trials that examine the effects of varying dosages are warranted to elucidate the optimal dose for improving physical and mental health. Of note, uptake of the interventions, reflected in the percentage of users who completed them, did not moderate their impact on physical and mental health. Studies of facilitators of and barriers to the uptake of digital behavioural health interventions argue that engagement affects intervention effectiveness (Borghouts et al., 2021). For instance, studies could consider the extent of peer support accessed (e.g., number and duration of peer interactions) or engagement in intervention-related activities (e.g., specific activities with peers; Kruzan et al., 2022). Rising numbers of deaths are caused by lifestyle factors (Afshin et al., 2017), and poor mental health globally cost $6 trillion in 2023 alone (Health, 2020).
When pairing buddies, they take into consideration the interests they selected when signing up and their age. If someone wants to refuse a buddy, they can simply do so by not connecting with them once paired, and they can sign up to be paired with someone else. There is currently no formal training offered to buddies because buddies sign up to make friends who understand them (and thus can provide them with peer support), not provide or receive any type of professional help or crisis counseling.
Digital Connection: Using Technology To Support Peer Communities
The 3-month Digital Peer Support Certification was co-designed with academic partners and peer support specialists using the Academic-Peer Partnership 11. In an earlier quantitative study (under review), our co-production team conducted an online survey with 267 peer support specialists to identify factors that can either prevent or enable digital technology engagement. Based on our findings, we co-designed specific digital peer support training content to meet the specialists’ needs.
In addition, the severity of existing health conditions may be an important individual-level moderator. More severe physical and mental health problems may require more intensive intervention than peers are able to provide, including pharmacologic treatments and professional counselling (Qaseem et al., 2024). Thus, we hypothesized that digital peer support interventions may be more effective for individuals who are relatively healthy rather than those experiencing more severe health problems. For example, relative to their Western counterparts, Eastern (largely Asian) individuals value emotional self-control and dealing with mental health problems on their own rather than through self-disclosure (Lee et al., 2014). Mental health problems are also stigmatized more in some countries than others (Misra et al., 2021).
Since 2020, 94 percent of college presidents have taken at least one nonclinical step to promote mental health and well-being on their campuses, and 43 percent have established peer mental health programs, according to a 2024 survey by Inside Higher Ed. Discuss what you hope to achieve as a network and set guidelines for communication and support. For more information about structured peer support, check out resources like Peer Support Resources from NAMI. SHRM Members enjoy unlimited access to articles and exclusive professional content resources. These are physical devices that connect computers, printers and other electronic equipment to a network and enable data sharing, transferring and managing.
These elements encourage active participation and sustain engagement within the network. Integrating support networks into broader educational frameworks enhances the overall well-being initiatives within online education. It ensures that peer support systems are recognized as a vital component of students’ mental health strategies. This integration promotes consistency and reinforces institutional commitment to student wellness. Some drawbacks of connecting online to find peer-to-peer social support are privacy concerns and cyberbullying 31. Our findings demonstrate privacy concerns but not much about cyberbullying concerns—an important area for future research.
Do Californians Trust The Health Care System?
The ToC highlights gaps in our understanding and implementation of DMH and peer support. Considering different ways and barriers to engagement could enhance the uptake of platforms. For example, seeking to better understand from members of platforms how to best balance notifications (timing, type, and purpose) within such platforms. An example of this may be including tools to help users to recognize their emotions and what language can be used to describe this such as Plutchik’s “Wheel of Emotions” 48.
A review of peer support similarly found associations with improved mental health, including greater happiness, self-esteem, development of effective coping strategies and reductions in depression, loneliness, and anxiety 46. That said, our stakeholders did note possible negative implications of members feeling unable to provide appropriate support to others, learning or being exposed to unhealthy coping habits, or not receiving the responses from peers that they expected. Moreover, peer support networks extend beyond emotional encouragement; they also serve as repositories of valuable practical advice. Members frequently exchange tips on managing specific conditions or challenges, whether they pertain to mental health, chronic illness, or everyday life hurdles. For example, participants in a peer support group for chronic pain may share effective coping techniques, recommend resources, or provide insights on navigating healthcare systems, thereby enriching each member’s life with actionable knowledge.
This growing trust encourages deeper conversations and the exchange of insights, which can lead to transformative experiences for participants. In this context, peer support serves not only as a resource for advice and information but also as a safe space for emotional expression, further solidifying the bonds between members. The pressure to make the right decisions, maintain composure under stress, and support your team can weigh heavily. Building a network of like-minded leaders who understand the challenges you face can help you strengthen your resilience, gain fresh perspectives, and feel less alone in your leadership journey. The participants included 9 certified peer support specialists between the ages of 25 to 54 years (mean 39). All the participants were trained and accredited as certified peer support specialists by the state of Massachusetts and were all employed for a mean of 4.25 years (range 1 to 11 years).
Ideally, the people we surround ourselves with create what’s known as a support network. Social support networks can help you achieve your goals and contribute to your overall mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Many college students want to help their peers with their mental health issues, but not all feel confident doing that work. Research from the Born This Way Foundation finds a majority of students use peer support or want peer support for their mental health.
Some moderators described how moderating online communities fulfilled their own support needs and reported that it was empowering to be able to help others. Other motivations for setting up groups included addressing a lack of good existing support groups, reducing isolation, and having a place to exchange support and information. Ingrid Halvorsen is an Oslo-based mental health nurse and independent writer with a background in psychiatric care and digital mental health interventions. She covers psychiatric care reform, digital therapy tools, the growing global mental health crisis, and the lived experiences of people navigating complex mental health conditions. Ingrid writes with rare compassion and clinical credibility, producing work that resonates with both healthcare providers and people seeking to understand their own mental wellbeing. She has over ten years of frontline nursing and editorial experience and publishes on Substack and Medium.
Clear, accessible dialogue encourages active participation and ensures members feel heard and respected. Establishing guidelines for respectful interaction can prevent misunderstandings and conflicts. If you’re looking for additional support in your life, know that professional mental health support is always available. Whether you’re weighing your next career move or trying to manage mental health symptoms, Rula can provide access to convenient, effective digital care from the comfort of home. Participating in peer support networks can lead to numerous advantages for personal growth, productivity, and overall well-being.
- For example, an alternative would be creating a profile within the system that has an about me page, how long the person has been a user, buddies paired with, and any other information that users choose to share about themselves.
- Creating an inclusive environment encourages individuals to join and feel comfortable sharing their experiences related to mental health.
- Forty-seven of the studies examined physical health and produced 76 effects sizes, and 73 of the studies examined mental health and produced 118 effect sizes (Figure A7 in Online Supplement).
- Peer support specialists are increasingly reporting the desire and need to use technology to deliver peer support 10.
- HealthUnlocked is a social networking service for health that hosts over 700 online communities for various health conditions.
We found that buddies typically base their first conversations off their stated shared interests. As previously described, buddies’ experiences have been positive with the shared interest feature, whereas the mental health orientation of Buddy Project creates a shared understanding that discussing mental health with buddies is not taboo. Participants noted that when the shared diagnosis replaces the shared interest, the dynamic of the relationship changes. The friendship aspect is lost, as discussing mental health diagnosis is not how people begin to form friendships with one another; of course, once a relationship exists, discussing mental health is something participants feel more comfortable with. In this section, we describe how participants reflected on the perceived benefits and drawbacks of being matched with someone that shares their same mental illness diagnosis. These include concerns about differences in the severity of buddies’ experiences, engaging in self-comparison, and sharing unhealthy coping mechanisms.
The audit and feedback sessions aimed to promote digital peer support technology capacity using positive behavioral approaches 17,18. We adopted a nonaversive behavioral approach to working with peer support specialists during the feedback sessions 19. Nonaversive behavioral support focuses on affirmation of practices designed to educate and promote additional positive changes 20. Academic training programs for clinicians (eg, psychiatrists, psychologists, registered nurses, and licensed clinical social workers) frequently address methods and best practices for implementing telemental health services 7.
Here are six tips for making meaningful connections that can help you reach your personal goals, navigate challenges, and make an overall positive impact on your life. It can even help prevent serious mental and physical health concerns like anxiety, depression, heart disease, and dementia. A support network is made up of people and communities that offer emotional and practical support. EasternHoneys org Your support network consists of the people that you consult for encouragement and advice as you work toward goals or navigate challenging times.
For mental health, because earlier findings revealed that informal, naturally occurring digital peer support is most effective, perhaps only this form of digital peer support has more sustained effects on mental health – a notion that warrants future research attention. The participants in this study expressed concern about the potential costs of being matched based on shared diagnosis—comparing one’s self and severity of illness and sharing unhealthy coping mechanisms. In fact, individuals with mental illnesses do not always prefer for their peers to have the same diagnosis as theirs 15. This finding resonates with previous studies, suggesting that sharing unhealthy coping mechanisms is one of the most likely disadvantages of online support groups and peer support 38,55,60,66. This can include suicidal ideations being shared among peers, and even the possibility of a suicidal pact, and an overall diminished self-esteem and well-being 55.
Research indicates that the impact of printed educational materials on improvements in service delivery is generally small 26. Education paired with simulation-based training offered a risk-free opportunity to practice skills; however, this approach demonstrated only a small change in the peer support specialists’ capacity to use technology. Rather, continuous real-world experience in combination with education and simulation-based training produced the greatest change in capacity, as evidenced by the increase in technology capacity over time. Our findings indicate that continuous real-world experience may have a greater impact on increasing the capacity to offer digital peer support than education alone paired with simulation-based training. For example, if a participant has been seeking help from a therapist, they could suggest their peer to do the same and support their claim with personal experience, making it more likely that their peer seeks additional mental health support. For this to be possible, we argue that individuals would have to be educated on what healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms are.
Continuous evaluation of members’ needs and feedback allows for adapting activities, ensuring the network remains relevant and supportive in the context of online education. Research shows that support networks have a positive impact on people’s overall mental health, especially for women, older adults, and students. And one survey found that people with an emotional support system had lower stress levels than those without emotional support. Within our interview participants, we did not encounter anyone who mentioned that they had encountered fake profiles or those with malicious intentions. It is possible that those who follow Buddy Project on social media have had better experiences with the platform (although we attempted to recruit individuals with both positive and negative experiences). However, examining how to design technologies to facilitate trust and safety while reducing harmful behavior is an ongoing area of research that is beyond the scope of this study.
Peer support also has a positive impact on psychosocial and recovery outcomes 15, which include increased community integration, sense of control, social functioning, and social support; peer support also promotes feelings of empowerment and hope 17-20. Furthermore, peer support can improve self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-management of difficulties 21. The current study developed a theory of change in digital mental health and peer support through engagement with stakeholders. Stakeholders identified a variety of inputs, activities, outcomes, impacts, barriers, and assumptions. Three distinct pathways were identified showing the unique roles of the platform, members, and commissioners at each stage of the ToC. The study highlighted the need for further research into factors influencing and promoting engagement, member’s experience of peer support and how impact can be accurately measured.