To Help Others, We Must Care for Ourselves: The Importance of Self-Care for Peer Support Workers in Substance Use Recovery

Williams, Christian

doi:10.24966/aad-7276/100071

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…23,24,26 Finally, while burnout and trauma are challenges across roles, this presents particular risks to people who are in recovery themselves. 24,31,32 Worries about job protection in the event of a SUD recurrence can discourage people from disclosing if they need additional support for their health and well-being, 23 and this is heightened for people of color because of the possibility of racial bias. All of these factors can be barriers or deterrents to entering the workforce, and also make it harder to succeed and stay retained in positions.…”

Section: Factors Impacting Recruitment and Retentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse and Skilled Addiction Treatment Workforce

Paradise,

Wakeman

2023

Substance Use & Addiction Journal

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National drug overdose deaths have been rising for decades, with particularly significant increases in recent years among populations of color. There is an urgent need for timely, accessible substance use disorder treatment, but workforce shortages across roles and settings impede the ability of the treatment system to meet the rising and evolving demand. In this Commentary, the authors discuss reasons for workforce shortages across roles, and offer recommendations for 8 areas of investment to grow and sustain a substance use and addiction care workforce prepared to address the overdose crisis in a racially equitable manner.

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Section: Factors Impacting Recruitment and Retentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse and Skilled Addiction Treatment Workforce

Paradise,

Wakeman

2023

Substance Use & Addiction Journal

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“…The purpose of the study is to examine what boundary challenges PSWs faced and how they managed boundaries. This is an important topic because blurred boundaries between work and home domains can be a source of strain and conflict [ 23 – 25 ], and yet peer support necessitates self-care and taking time to disconnect from work [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Work-life boundary management of peer support workers when engaging in virtual mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative case study

Mirbahaeddin,

Chreim

2023

BMC Public Health

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Background Mental health care needs have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. Peer support workers (PSWs) and the organizations that employ them have strived to provide services to meet increasing needs. During pandemic lockdowns in Ontario, Canada, these services moved online and were provided by PSWs from their homes. There is paucity of research that examines how providing mental health support by employees working from home influences their work-life boundaries. This research closes the gap by examining experiences of work-life boundary challenges and boundary management strategies of PSWs. Methods A qualitative case study approach was adopted. Interviews with PSWs who held formal, paid positions in a peer support organization were conducted. Data was analyzed thematically using both inductive and deductive approaches. Descriptive coding that closely utilized participants’ words was followed by inferential coding that grouped related themes into conceptual categories informed by boundary theory. Member checking was conducted. Results PSWs provided accounts of work-life boundary challenges that we grouped into three categories: temporal (work schedule encroachments, continuous online presence), physical (minimal workspace segregation, co-presence of household members and pets) and task-related (intersecting work-home activities). Strategies used by PSWs to manage the boundaries consisted of segmenting the work-life domains by creating separate timescapes, spaces and tasks; and integrating domains by allowing some permeability between the areas of work and life. Conclusion The findings from this study can help inform management, practices, future research and policy on health care workforce. The study highlights the need to attend to the consequences of greater work-life integration for mental health workers since their successful practice is largely dependent on maintaining self-care. Training regarding work-life boundary management is highlighted as one of the ways to approach situations where work from home is required.

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The wages of peer recovery workers: underpaid, undervalued, and unjust

Smith

2024

Critical Public Health

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To Help Others, We Must Care for Ourselves: The Importance of Self-Care for Peer Support Workers in Substance Use Recovery

Abstract: Peer support workers, using their shared lived experience, have been recognized in the medical and behavioral health fields as having positive contributions to the well-being and recovery of individuals who are in early stages of recovery or illness management.

Cited by 5 publications

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Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse and Skilled Addiction Treatment Workforce

Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse and Skilled Addiction Treatment Workforce

Work-life boundary management of peer support workers when engaging in virtual mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative case study

The wages of peer recovery workers: underpaid, undervalued, and unjust

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