Table 1 Detailed characteristics of studies
Study | Country | Method | Population | Sample size: intervention /control | Intervention | Control | Outcomes | Assessments | Longest Follow Up | Type of PS | Support for PS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Solomon, 1995 [23] | USA | Randomised controlled trial | Adults currently on community mental health centre caseload who meet all three criteria for intensive case management and were identified to be at risk for hospitalisation with a diagnosis of major mental illness and a significant treatment history | 48/48 | Consumer case management | Case management as usual from community mental health services | 1) Overall psychiatric symptomsb 2) Social network support b 3) Quality of life b 4) Hospitalisationb 5) Working Alliance | 1) Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) [24]b 2) Pattison’s Social Network [25]b 3) Lehmans’s Quality of Life Interview [26]b 4) Days in hospitalb 5) Working Alliance Inventory - staff and client [27]b | 24 months | S | H |
Klein, 1998 [28] | USA | Randomised controlled trial - pilot | Adult patients receiving intensive care management with dual diagnosis who had been in community care at the mental health centre for 1 year | 10/51 | Peer-supported community enablement plus CAU | CAU - Intensive Case Management | 1) Hospitalisation 2) Social functioning 3) Quality of Life 4) Social network support 5) Wellbeing | 1) Days in hospital 2) Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale [29] 3) Lehman’s Quality of Life (QOL) [26] 4) Lehman’s Quality of Life – Friends subscale [26] 5) Lehman’s Quality of Life – Health subscale [26] | 6 months | A | H |
Clarke, 2000 [30] | USA | Randomised controlled trial – three arms | Adult patients with a severe mental disorder, a schizophrenic, major affective, or paranoid disorder, or another severe mental disorder, and a documented history of persistent psychotic symptoms other than those caused by substance abuse. | 57/57/49 | Consumer-staffed assertive community treatment | 1) Non-consumer assertive community treatmenta 2) CAU – usual community mental health services | 1) Hospitalisationb | 1) Hospitalisedb Community tenure (days) | 6 months | S | L |
Hunkeler, 2000 [31] | USA | Randomized controlled trial – three arms | Adults primary care patients with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder or dysthymia and given a prescription of for a SSRI antidepressant (fluoxetine hydrochloride or paroxetine) | 123/117/62 | Peer support via telephone contact or face-to-face plus nurse telehealth care plus nurse telehelthcare plus CAU | 1) Nurse teleheath care plus CAU 2) CAU – usual physician care | 1) Depression and anxiety 2) Social functioning 3) Satisfaction with services | 1) Hamilton Depression Rating Scale- self report version [32] - Beck depression Inventory [33] 2) SF − 12 Mental and Physical Composite Scales [34] 3) Patient satisfaction with treatment scale – no information provided | 6 months | A | L |
Craig, 2004 [35] | England | Randomised controlled trial - pilot | Adult service users currently registered with assertive outreach team and have SMI, with a record of poor engagement, multiple hospitalisations and a high prevalence of problematical behaviours and substance abuse. | 24/21 | Consumer Health Care Assistant plus CAU | CAU - case management from Assertive Outreach Team | 1) Social functioning b 2) Social network support b 3) Hospitalisationb 4) Satisfaction with services 5) Service engagement | 1) Life Skills Profile [36]b 2) Significant others scale (SOS) [37] 3) Days in hospitalb Hospitalisedb 4) Verona Service Satisfaction Scale (VSSS) [38]b 5) Number of missed (DNA) appointments with services. | 12 months | A | H |
Sells, 2006 [39] | USA | Randomised controlled trial | Adult patients currently using local mental health authorities with a primary diagnosis of SMI (schizophrenia spectrum disorder, major mood disorder, or both) and treatment disengagement | 58/59 | Peer-based case management from peer mental health service provider | Case management as usual from assertive community treatment teams | 1) Working alliance - clientb 2) Engagement with services | 1) Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI) modified version [40]b 2) Level of Care Utilization System [41] | 12 months | A | L |
Rivera, 2007 [42] | USA | Randomised controlled trial – three arms | Adults recruited from inpatient units at a city hospital whom have a diagnosis of a psychotic or mood disorder on axis I, and have had two or more psychiatric hospitalizations in previous two years | 70/66/67 | Consumer-assisted intensive case management | 1) Intensive case managementa 2) Standard case management (i.e. office-based without intensive components) | 1) Overall psychiatric symptomsb 2) Quality of Lifeb 3) Social network supportb 4) Wellbeingb 5) Hospitalisationb | 1) Brief Symptom Inventory [43]b 2) Lehman Quality of Life Inventory [26]b 3) Modification of Pattison Network Inventory [25]b 4) Lehman’s Quality of Life - health subscale [26]b 5) Days in hospital (per month)b | 12 months | A | L |
Simon, 2011 [44] | USA | Randomised controlled trial | Participants, aged 19 or over, who were currently in treatment for bipolar disorder | 64/54 | Online peer recovery coaching plus online recovery planning | Online recovery planning | 1) Engagement with services | 1) Use of online program components - engagement with recovery plans, use of social networking features, use of self-monitoring tools. | 3 weeks | A | H |
Sledge, 2011 [45] | USA | Randomised controlled trial - pilot | Adult inpatients who have experienced three or more psychiatric hospitalizations (or two admissions plus more than three psychiatric ED visits) during the 18-month period prior to recruitment and have a documented diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, psychotic disorder not otherwise specified, bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder with or without psychotic features | 48/45 | Community-based peer recovery mentor plus CAU | CAU - community mental health care | 1) Hospitalisationb 2) Overall psychiatric symptoms 3) Social Functioning 4) Hope 5) Satisfaction with services 6) Social network support 7) Wellbeing | 1) No. of readmissions - Days in hospitalb Hospitalisedb Community tenure 2) Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) [24] 3) The Social Functioning Scale [46] 4) The Dispositional Hope Scale [47] 5) Mental Health Statistics Improvement Programme (MHSIP) [48] 6) Sense of Community Index [49] 7) 36 item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) [34] | 9 months | A | H |
Proudfoot, 2012 [50] | Australia | Randomised controlled trial – three arms | Adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a health professional within the past 12 months and currently being treated | 134/139/134 | Online peer coaching plus online psycho-education programme | 1) Online psycho-education programme 2) attention control | 1) Depression and anxiety 2) Social functioning 3) Empowerment | 1) Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale (GADS) [51] 2) Work and Social Adjustment Scale [52] 3) Multi-dimensional Health Locus of Control [53] | 6 months | A | L |
Chinman, 2013 [54] | USA | Cluster randomised controlled trial | Current adult VA intensive case management patients who have had 30 psychiatric inpatient days or 3 psychiatric admissions in the past year with an Axis 1 psychiatric disorder. | 252/216 | Floating, additional peer-supported case management plus CAU | CAU - case management from community-based Intensive Case Management services | 1) Quality of Lifeb 2) Recoveryb 3) Empowermentb 4) Overall psychiatric symptomsb | 1) Lehman’s Quality of Life Interview [26]b 2) The Mental Health Recovery Measure (MHRM) [55]b Illness Management and Recovery Scale (IMR Scale) [56] 3) Patient Activation Measure [57]b 4)BASIS-R [58] b | QoL - 6 months Other - 12 months | A | H |
Simpson, 2014 [59] | England | Randomised controlled trial - pilot | Inpatients, aged 18–65, approaching discharge/extended leave from acute mental health inpatient unit | 23/23 | Peer support plus CAU | CAU - community mental health services | 1) Hope 2) Quality of Life 3) Hospitalisationb | 1) Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS - 20 item) [60] 2) EuroQol (EQ-5D) [61] 3) Hospitalisedb | 3 months | A | H |
Wrobleski, 2015 [62] | Canada | Randomized controlled trial - pilot | Adult patients receiving care from a community mental health service with a persistent mental illness, that is significantly affecting daily functioning or a person with both a mental health diagnosis and substance use issue | 12/9 | Peer-supported self-management plus occupational therapy | Self-management support from a (non-peer) mental health worker plus occupational therapy | 1) Quality of Life | 1) Lehman’s Quality of Life Interview [26] | 6 months | S | H |
Rogers, 2016 [63] | USA | Randomised controlled trial | Clients, over the age of 18, who were court ordered for treatment because of a psychiatric crisis civilly committed for a mental health crisis, adjudicated by the state court to meet the definition of “a person with a serious mental illness,” | 63/50 | Individual peer-supported social inclusion and recovery support plus CAU | CAU - Peer-provided services (excluding individual peer support; e.g. social activities, educational courses, group peer support) | 1) Social network support 2) Overall psychiatric symptoms 3) Recovery 4) Quality of Life | 1) Interpersonal Support Evaluation List [64] 2) BASIS-R [58] 3) Recovery Assessment Scale [65] 4) Brief Quality of Life (BQOL; Lehman, 1988) [26] | 6 months | A | H |
Salzer, 2016 [66] | USA | Randomized controlled trial | Patients, aged 18 and above, using community outpatient mental health programmes with a diagnosis on the schizophrenia spectrum, bipolar disorder, or major depression | 50/50 | Peer-delivered support for independent living plus CAU | CAU - usual outpatient mental health care | 1) Quality of lifeb 2) Recovery b 3) Empowermentb 4) Working Alliance | 1) Lehman’s Quality of Life Interview [26]b 2) Recovery Assessment Scale [65]b 3) The Empowerment Scale [67]b 4) Working Alliance Inventory [27] | 12 months | A | H |
Seeley, 2016 [68] | USA | Randomized controlled trial - pilot | Patients, aged 55 and above, referred to an intergovernmental agency and meeting criteria for mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety | 31/31 | Peer-supported cognitive behavioural intervention for mild-moderate depression and/ or anxiety | Waitlist control | 1) Depression b 2) Anxiety 3) Working Alliance | 1) PHQ-9 [69]b 2) GAD-7 [70] 3) Working Alliance Inventory [27] | 2.5 months | A | L |
Mahlke, 2017 [71] | Germany | Randomised controlled trial | Patients, aged 18–80, using in- and out-patient services with primary diagnosis of schizophrenia and related disorders, affective disorders, or personality disorder and a duration of illness of more than 2 years. | 114/112 | Community-based peer support for individual recovery plus CAU | CAU - in-patient and out-patient mental health as usual | 1) Overall psychiatric symptomsb 2) Quality of Lifeb 3) Social functioningb 4) Empowermentb 5) Hospitalisationb | 1) Clinical Global Impression – Severity scale [72] 2) Modular System for Quality of Life and EuroQol Questionnaire EQ. 5D [61]b 3) Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale [29]b 4) General Self-Efficacy Scale [73]b 5) Days in hospitalb Hospitalisedb | 12 months | A | H |
Yamaguchi, 2017 [74] | Japan | Randomized controlled trial | Patients, age 20 years or older, using outpatient psychiatric clinic or psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, who received services from case managers in either a psychiatric day care or visiting nurse program. | 26/27 | Peer supported shared decision-making plus CAU | CAU - medical consultation | 1) Overall psychiatric symptomsb 2) Social Functioningb 3) Empowermentb 4) Working Allianceb | 1) The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) [24]b 2) Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale [29]b 3) Patient Activation Measure [57]b 4) Scale To Assess Therapeutic Relationships in Community Mental Health Care (STAR) – Clinician & Patient versions [75] b | 12 months | A | L |
Johnson, 2018 [76] | England | Randomised controlled trial | Adult patients currently on the caseload of crisis resolution teams for at least a week because of a psychiatric crisis | 221/220 | Peer-supported self-management plus CAU | CAU – community mental health services plus self-management workbook | 1) Overall psychiatric symptomsb 2) Social network support b 3) Recovery b 4) Satisfaction with servicesb 5) Hospitalisation | 1) Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale [24]b 2) Lubben Social Network Scale [77]b 3.a) Illness Management & Recovery Scale b (patient version) [56] 3.b) Questionnaire on the Process of Recovery (QPR) [78] 4) Client Satisfaction Questionnaire [79]b 5) Community tenure (days) | 18 months | A | H |