Integration of the program into pre-existing services

Ensuring peer support services are properly integrated into existing campus services is essential. While it may be tempting to provide peer support services as a separate student-run initiative, the value of a peer support program on campus is that peer supporters are integrated members of the care team. The participant is more likely to be adequately supported and information can be shared amongst all team members, within the boundaries of privacy and confidentiality policies.

In some case, it may be feasible and appropriate for peer supporters to engage in interdisciplinary team discussions, program planning decisions and case consultations while being encouraged to advocate for participant needs. The valuable lived experience perspective that peer supporters have to offer can be integrated into the team and can help improve campus services. Another possibility would be for the staff member(s) who supervise(s) the peer support program to share feedback from students and peer supporters with a representative of the clinical staff who then can take these insights to the table. In any case, ongoing communication is critical between peer supporters and their support team, the student population and other services on campus, including clinical staff.

For campuses using Stepped Care as their service delivery model, peer support is often integrated as part of the lower-intensity programming. Please refer to our Stepped Care 2.0 toolkit to see how peer support programs can be integrated within a broader framework of mental health services on campus.