Gordon J, Bradstreet S. So if we like the idea of peer workers, why aren’t we seeing more? World J Psychiatr 2015; 5(2): 160-166 [PMID: 26110117 DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i2.160]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jacki Gordon, BA (Hons), MSc, MPH, Jacki Gordon + Associates, 8 Williamwood Park West, Glasgow G44 3TE, Scotland, United Kingdom. jacki@jackigordon.net
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Psychiatr. Jun 22, 2015; 5(2): 160-166 Published online Jun 22, 2015. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i2.160
So if we like the idea of peer workers, why aren’t we seeing more?
Jacki Gordon, Simon Bradstreet
Jacki Gordon, Jacki Gordon + Associates, Glasgow G44 3TE, Scotland, United Kingdom
Simon Bradstreet, Scottish Recovery Network, Glasgow G2 6HJ, Scotland, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Gordon J was the lead author and was responsible for conducting and reporting the original research study described herein; Bradstreet S was responsible for describing progress in recovery thinking and practices within Scotland and internationally; the reflections and arguments were jointly developed by the authors.
Supported by The Scottish Recovery Network.
Conflict-of-interest: Simon Bradstreet is the Director of the Scottish Recovery Network who has a strategic interest in the promotion of peer working. Jacki Gordon is an independent researcher commissioned by the Scottish Recovery Network for this research.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Jacki Gordon, BA (Hons), MSc, MPH, Jacki Gordon + Associates, 8 Williamwood Park West, Glasgow G44 3TE, Scotland, United Kingdom. jacki@jackigordon.net
Telephone: +44-141-5777077
Received: January 24, 2015 Peer-review started: February 1, 2015 First decision: March 6, 2015 Revised: April 2, 2015 Accepted: May 5, 2015 Article in press: May 6, 2015 Published online: June 22, 2015
Core Tip
Core tip: Recovery approaches are widely and increasingly promoted internationally in mental health policy and services. Peer support working is a new professional role in mental health services and provides a tangible example of recovery principles being applied within the context of these services. As a consequence, there is a great deal of interest in emerging evidence around this role, and whether/how evidence might support increased and more effective involvement of peer workers. Our editorial presents findings from research in Scotland and on the basis of these, poses some “big questions” concerning what needs to happen to accelerate progress in not only the employment of peer workers but also in mental health services’ recovery approaches more generally.
