The HALT Hepatitis Peer Advocate qualitative study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How do Peer Advocates balance the client and health provider relationships to facilitate ‘patient citizenship’.
IRAS ID
146519
Contact name
Ibrahim Abubakar
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London Joint Research Office
Research summary
How do Peer Advocates in the HALT Hepatitis study gain the trust and acceptance of the clients and the health care providers to act as a bridge to the client’s engagement with Hepatitis treatment services?
Peer support programmes have expanded out of mental health to other health and education contexts, with particular success among marginal and hard to reach groups. A Peer is someone who has been in a similar position to that which the client is in at the time of the peer encounter. In the HALT Hepatitis study this would include experiences of homelessness, substance misuse and Hepatitis. Being able to understand each other’s experiences can generate empathy and a relationship of trust. Evaluations of Peer support programmes have identified this relationship, or connection, to be the reason behind their effectiveness.
Within a health care context, hard to reach groups are defined by their reluctance to engage with a health service that has been described as inflexible and judgemental. For individuals to negotiate their entitlement to treatments and therapies, they must learn a role that makes them fit with the rules and processes of the system. Although Peer support workers have described themselves as having no power in the hierarchy of this institution, they are able to create a bridge between the world of the institution and of the client. The components of the relationship and the skills they use to achieve this has been acknowledged but not explored in the literature. Consequently, the attributes of a successful Peer have not been identified.This study aims to address this knowledge gap.REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/0484
Date of REC Opinion
17 Mar 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion