Peer Support Services in Behavioral Health Facilities: Secondary Analysis From Two National Surveys.

OBJECTIVE: Peer support providers are part of the behavioral health workforce. Research indicates that peer support helps care recipients achieve recovery and engage with behavioral health services. This article investigated how many U.S. behavioral health facilities offer peer support services and compared the frequencies of peer support services in facilities providing mental health and substance use services. METHODS: The authors conducted a secondary analysis of facilities in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Mental Health Services Survey (N=11,582) and the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N=13,585), including descriptive and comparative analyses on reported mental health and substance use treatment services in the 50 U.S. states in 2017. RESULTS: The findings revealed state-to-state variation in the number and availability of mental health and substance use service facilities and in facilities that reported providing peer support services. Facilities providing substance use treatment services offered peer support services at more than twice the rate (56.6%) found in mental health facilities (24.7%). The authors also identified program characteristics associated with the inclusion of peer support services in behavioral health. Provision of peer support services was more frequently reported by public facilities than by for-profit and nonprofit facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral health facilities that serve individuals with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance use and mental health conditions reported offering peer support at a higher rate than did other facilities. Inconsistent definitions of peer support in the two surveys limited the comparability of the findings between the two reports.

Moving toward integrated health: an opportunity for social work.

With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and ongoing health care reform efforts, this is a critical time for the social work profession. The approaches and values embedded in health care reform are congruent with social work. One strategy is to improve care for people with co-morbid and chronic illnesses by integrating primary care and behavioral health services. This paper defines integrated health and how the PPACA promotes integrated health care through system redesign and payment reform. We consider how social workers can prepare for health care reform and discuss the implications of these changes for the future of the profession.

Relational and academic components of resilience in maltreated adolescents.

This study examines the components of resilience in adolescents (aged 11-15 years; n = 816) who were referred to the child welfare system for maltreatment. Data from a national probability study of children and families in the child welfare system showed that adolescents faced a number of risk factors like maltreatment, poverty, and exposure to violence in the community. Social competence, academic achievement, and a sense of relatedness to caregiver were fit in a structural equation model as components of latent resilience. Social competence and the quality of relationship with a caregiver were strongly linked to latent resilience.