Engaging with peers to integrate community care: Knowledge synthesis and conceptual map

• Published in: Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy 2024-04, Vol.27 (2), p.e14034-n/a
• Main Authors: Panaite, Andreea‐Cătălina, Desroches, Odile‐Anne, Warren, Émilie, Rouly, Ghislaine, Castonguay, Geneviève, Boivin, Antoine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Canada; community health; Community health care; community health worker; Concepts; Female; Grey literature; Health care; Health care industry; Health disparities; Health services; Humans; integrated care; Intervention; Knowledge; Labels; Medical personnel; patient engagement; patient navigator; Peer Group; peer support; Peer tutoring; Peers; Policy making; Primary care; Professionals; Research transfer; Researchers; Review; Segmentation; Self help; Support groups; Synthesis; Traditions; Underserved populations; Workers
• ISSN: 1369-6513; 1369-7625; 1369-7625
• DOI: 10.1111/hex.14034

Context Engaging with peers is gaining increasing interest from healthcare systems in numerous countries. Peers are people who offer support by drawing on lived experiences of significant challenges or ‘insider’ knowledge of communities. Growing evidence suggests that peers can serve as a bridge between underserved communities and care providers across sectors, through their ability to build trust and relationships. Peer support is thus seen as an innovative way to address core issues of formal healthcare, particularly fragmentation of care and health inequalities. The wide body of approaches, goals and models of peer support speaks volumes of such interest. Navigating the various labels used to name peers, however, can be daunting. Similar terms often hide critical differences. Objectives/Background This article seeks to disentangle the conceptual multiplicity of peer support, presenting a conceptual map based on a 3‐year knowledge synthesis project involving peers and programme stakeholders in Canada, and international scientific and grey literature. Synthesis/Main Results The map introduces six key questions to navigate and situate peer support approaches according to peers' roles, pathways and settings of practice, regardless of the terms used to label them. As a tool, it offers a broad overview of the different ways peers contribute to integrating health and community care. Discussion We conclude by discussing the map's potential and limitations to establish a common language and bridge models, in support of knowledge exchange among practitioners, policymakers and researchers. Patient or Public Contribution Our team includes one experienced peer support worker. She contributed to the design of the conceptual map and the production of the manuscript. More than 10 peers working across Canada were also involved during research meetings to validate and refine the conceptual map.