‘It’s like there’s no staff here – we’re all a friendly bunch of people’ – Young service users’ experiences of peer support in a youth-friendly service

Abstract

Abstract Background: There has been a notable increase in the inclusion of young peer support in mental healthcare over the past decade. Involving young peer supporters in this work has been little explored and has specific implications. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore young service users’ experiences of peer work in youth-friendly mental health service. Design and method: The study has a qualitative approach with a descriptive and explorative design. Eleven service users aged 16–25 participated. Focus groups and individual qualitative interviews were used for data collection. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: The findings were organised into three themes. 1) It’s like a home I’ve never had. 2) You can relate to the peer workers. 3) They tend to share their experiences, so you know they understand. Conclusions: The study reveals how young service users experience peer support as crucial. It shows how peer support provides a friendly, home-like atmosphere, described as a contrast to other services, and how the close age match and the sharing of similar experiences lead to bonding between young service users and peer workers. We discuss how friendship-like relationships between peer workers and service users could be difficult to balance.

Keywords

• Young
• peer support
• youth-friendly services
• mental health
• qualitative methods