Peer Support Workers are people who draw on their own experience of mental health challenges to support others in recovery. This shared understanding can create a level of trust and connection that is difficult to achieve through clinical models alone. As Thomasina Lawrence, Operations Manager at Stride, explains,
“having a mental health workforce that includes peers with lived experience builds trust, reduces stigma and fosters hope in the recovery journey”
Since 2023, Stride has partnered with Flinders University to explore how Peer Support Workers can be more effectively integrated into general practice. We are pleased to share that the first paper from this research has now been published, bringing together insights from consumers, carers, GPs, practice staff and peer workers.
Primary care is often the first point of contact for people seeking mental health support, yet Peer Support Workers are still not widely embedded in GP settings. This research highlights the value they can bring.
There was strong support for bringing Peer Support Workers into GP clinics. Participants highlighted the unique value of lived experience, including:
The research also showed that clear roles, strong teamwork and appropriate support are key to making this model work well.
This work is an important step toward embedding lived experience roles in primary care. By contributing to this research, Stride is helping build the evidence needed to support broader, sustainable integration of peer support across the mental health system.
Stride’s Safe Space Caboolture & our Launceston Medicare Mental Health Centre supported recruitment for this phase and continue to contribute to the broader trial, which has now concluded and is currently in analysis.
We look forward to sharing more as results emerge.
To explore the findings in more detail, you can read the full paper by visiting:
The Potential Role of Peer Support Workers in General Practice: Perspectives of Consumers, Carers, Peer Support Workers and General Practice Staff, published in Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.
