The influence of peer support worker integration on co-production and co-creation in public mental health and addiction services: Protocol for a scoping review

Abstract

An increasing proportion of countries engage peer support workers (PSW) in their public mental health and addiction services. How PSW are integrated in the services and participate in co-production and co-creation processes will influence both the content and quality of services for service-users related to effectiveness, and the services ability to innovation and change. However, little is known about how PSW contribute in, and to, co-production and co-creation processes in the services, and the described outcomes of such processes. Knowledge from existing research literature about the types, objectives, conditions and outcomes of co-production and co-creation processes with PSW is key knowledge for understanding and developing these processes which in the next step will increase service user participation and ensure better adaptation of services to the target group.A scoping review are chosen to provide an overview of existing evidence base to address questions beyond those related to effectiveness and efficiency and can be useful for bringing together literature in disciplines with emerging evidence. This aim of this scoping review is to achieve an overview of the research status of co-production and co-creation related to or involving PSW in the public mental health and addiction field of studies. The search of the studies will be between August 31 to December 15, 2020. The studies reviewed will be the ones that provide a description of how PSW engage in or contribute in these public services, particularly in collaborative processes as co-production and co-creation in the services. All studies describing PSW roles and activities that PSW might have within the public mental health and addiction services and across organizational or institutional boundaries will be included. Intended database sources for the review are Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, Oria, WorldCat, Google Scholar, Scopus, Academic Search Elite, Cinahl. This scoping review explore how the integration of peer support in public mental health and addiction services influences forms of collaboration in these services, described in the literature both through the process of co-production and co-creation. Research question for this scoping review is: How do peer support workers integration influence co-production and co-creation in public mental health and addiction services and what are the described outcomes?