Peer support
Peer support can occur within, outside or around traditional mental health services and programs, between two people or in groups. Peer support is increasingly being offered through digital health like text messaging and smartphone apps. Peer support is a key concept in the [[recovery approach]] and in consumer-operated services programs. [[Psychiatric survivors movement|Consumers/clients]] of mental health programs have also formed non-profit [[self-help groups|self-help]] organizations, and serve to support each other and to challenge associated [[Social stigma|stigma]] and discrimination. The role of peer workers in mental health services was the subject of a conference in London in April 2012, jointly organized by the [[Centre for Mental Health]] and the NHS Confederation. Research has shown that peer-run self-help groups yield improvement in psychiatric symptoms resulting in decreased hospitalization, larger social support networks and enhanced [[self-esteem]] and social functioning. There is considerable variety in the ways that peer support is defined and conceptualized as it relates to mental health services. In some cases, clinicians, psychiatrists, and other staff who do not necessarily have their own experiences of receiving psychiatric treatment are being trained, often by [[Psychiatric survivors movement|psychiatric survivors]], in peer support as an approach to building relationships that are genuine, mutual, and non-coercive.