Peer Support as a Profession-Lecture Presentation

Video Transcription

Video Summary

In this video, Patrick Hendry discusses the topic of peer support as a profession. He starts by defining peer support as understanding another person's situation empathically through shared experiences of emotional and psychological pain, emphasizing the importance of connections and affiliations between peers. Peer support workers play various roles such as advocates, navigators, and linking people to resources, all while sharing their own lived experiences in a way that aids the other person. Hendry explains what constitutes a profession, including the need for a high level of knowledge or skills, ongoing education, and ethical behavior to protect the public.<br /><br />Hendry traces the history of peer support, from the early 18th century movement of hiring patients to work as staff within hospitals, to the growth of peer-run services and advocacy in the 1980s and 1990s. He discusses the development of certification programs and national standards for peer support, highlighting the importance of maintaining peerness in peer support roles within clinical settings. Hendry explores how peer support has expanded into other areas of healthcare and discusses the need for consistent high standards of certification to ensure quality across states.<br /><br />He concludes by asserting that peer support is essential for individuals on their journey to recovery, increasing access to services, reducing hospitalization rates and emergency department usage, and changing attitudes within the behavioral health system. Hendry highlights the increasing prevalence of peer support in the workforce, estimating that it will make up 20 to 25% of the behavioral health workforce in the next five to 10 years.

Keywords

Peer support profession

Patrick Hendry

Emphatic understanding

Advocacy in peer support

History of peer support

Certification programs

Importance of peerness in clinical settings