Resource Library

In this webinar, Rutgers faculty members Amy Spagnolo and Rita Cronise talk about peer support services both in behavioral health and peer-run organizations, funding sources, and how funding has determined the differences in peer certification in each of the 50 states.

In addition to certification, they describe using requirements for continuing education as rungs on a academic career ladder either toward a first career or in career advancement. Two fully online programs were highlighted in the program: (1) an Undergraduate Certificate in Peer Support that provides support for local placement in a work related practicum that is supported by supervision and course faculty, and (2) a Masters in Health Care Management with a focus on Behavioral Health that is an ideal program for those seeking to become qualified as supervisors of peer support specialists. Finally, strategies for recruitment and retention of peer support specialists were discussed.

The history of addiction treatment and recovery in the United States contains a rich “wounded healer” tradition. For more than 275 years, individuals and families recovering from severe alcohol and other drug problems have provided peer-based recovery support (P-BRS) to sustain one another and to help those still suffering. Formal peer-based recovery support services (P-BRSS) are now being delivered through diverse organizations and roles. The goals of this monograph are to 1) define PBRS and P-BRSS, 2) present a brief chronology of P-BRS in the United States, 3) discuss the theories and principles that guide the design and delivery of P-BRS services, 4) illustrate the current varieties of P-BRSS, and 5) review the scientific studies that have evaluated P-BRS and specialized P-BRSS. The monograph closes with a discussion of the strengths and vulnerabilities of peer-based recovery support and professionally directed addiction treatment services.

This is a recording of a webinar hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) that focuses on Peer-Centered Programming. It presents information on:

• Medical models vs. social models of SUD recovery
• Recovery capital vs. social capital
• Implementing recovery-oriented principles within criminal justice settings
• Recovery capital assessment tools
• Building and supporting person-centered recovery in your organization

Recovery from substance use disorder (SUD) is often considered at odds with harm reduction strategies. More recently, harm reduction has been categorized as both a pathway to recovery and a series of services to reduce the harmful consequences of substance use. Peer recovery support services (PRSS) are effective in improving SUD outcomes, as well as improving the engagement and effectiveness of harm reduction programs. This study provides an initial evaluation of a hybrid recovery community organization providing PRSS as well as peer-based harm reduction services via a syringe exchange program. Results suggest that recovery community organizations are well situated and staffed to also provide harm reduction services, such as syringe exchange programs. Given the relationship between engagement and participant housing, criminal justice status, and previous health diagnosis, recommendations for service delivery include additional education and outreach for homeless, justice-involved, LatinX, and LGBTQ+ identifying individuals.

This study provides an initial evaluation of a hybrid recovery community organization providing PRSS as well as peer-based harm reduction services via a syringe exchange program. Administrative data collected during normal operations of the Missouri Network for Opiate Reform and Recovery were analyzed using Pearson chi-square tests and Monte Carlo chi-square tests.

Results suggest that recovery community organizations are well situated and staffed to also provide harm reduction services, such as syringe exchange programs. Given the relationship between engagement and participant housing, criminal justice status, and previous health diagnosis, recommendations for service delivery include additional education and outreach for homeless, justice-involved, LatinX, and LGBTQ+ identifying individuals.

Ashford, R.D., Curtis, B. & Brown, A.M. Peer-delivered harm reduction and recovery support services: initial evaluation from a hybrid recovery community drop-in center and syringe exchange program. Harm Reduct J 15, 52 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-018-0258-2

Join Gregorio "Craig" Lewis, author and founder of "Sanity is a Full Time Job," as he delivers this webinar intended to guide peers in their journeys as entrepreneurs.

Peer support workers are people who have been successful in recovery from physical or mental health challenges and who help others experiencing similar situations through shared understanding, respect, and mutual empowerment. In this webinar, Michelle Marikos, PSS will share her story and how she became a peer for chronic pain. Her webinar will offer insight into what peers can do for the pain and opioid crisis.

Peer support is valuable not only for the person receiving services, but also for behavioral health professionals and the systems in which they work. Peer workers educate their colleagues and advance the field by sharing their perspectives and experience in order to increase understanding of how practices and policies may be improved to promote wellness and resiliency. This is particularly important in mental health systems, where historical oppression, violence, and discrimination present significant barriers to recovery for many people. Peer workers play vital roles in moving behavioral health professionals and systems towards recovery orientation.

The news about addiction — rising rates of addiction, record numbers of overdose deaths, and the like — tends to be bleak. As clinicians and researchers, however, we have the good fortune to often see its bright side: recovery. It’s time we provided individuals with the resources they need to rebuild their lives in addiction recovery, rather than erecting or maintaining barriers to their success. Doing so benefits not just those seeking addiction recovery, but society as a whole.

If you find yourself with an addiction and are now working through your recovery, you’re not alone. In a national survey from the United States Surgeon General, 1 in 10 adults say they once had a problem with drugs or alcohol but no longer do.

Just like the diverse nature of those it affects, addiction can take multiple forms. In 2018, more than 19 million people aged 18 years or older had a substance use disorder, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Many Americans struggle with addictions related to alcohol, drugs or both.

Addiction can affect people of all backgrounds. It can strain your health and wellness, including your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and financial health. While addiction may have disrupted your efforts toward financial wellbeing, you can be successful at building and strengthening your finances.

The Pillars of Supervision outlined in this report can provide useful guidance for the advancement of high quality supervision of peer specialists.

The Pillars of Peer Support were originally designed to foster the development of the peer specialist workforce, and to describe the core principles of the roles and services they provide. Since the development of these pillars, they have been reported and adopted across systems that provide these services. The Pillars of Peer Specialist Supervision have evolved from requests for the development of a set of principles that can help guide organizations that employ this workforce. These new pillars for supervision can serve as guidance for organizations, individual supervisors, and peer specialists as they navigate the evolving growth of these service roles. As with the original pillars, they can provide direction, guidance, and technical assistance to behavioral health professionals on best practices for the peer specialist workforce.

This virtual conference focused on the integration efforts that support a collaborative healthcare approach. Professionals working in these areas were able to increase their knowledge of new updates in an interprofessional environment. These clinical updates are designed to assist in creating comprehensive screening protocols in primary care, substance use treatment, and infectious disease and sexual health clinics.