2025/09/16 by Giulia Pollice, Chiara Francesca Bodini, Marco Menchetti +5
Health Professions · Psychology · #Family Caregiving in Mental Illness #Homelessness and Social Issues #Mental Health and Patient Involvement
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10597-025-01513-5
crossref issued 2025/09/16 · crossref published 2025/09/16 · crossref published-online 2025/09/16 · openalex publication_date 2025/09/16 · crossref created 2025/09/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref published-print 2026/01/01 · crossref deposited 2026/01/11 · crossref indexed 2026/07/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Peer support, endorsed by WHO and national guidelines, is increasingly recognised as a key component of mental health care innovation. However, while peer support has gained increasing attention, the effective integration of Peer Support Workers (PSWs) within mental health services-and the systemic challenges it involves-remains a relatively under-investigated area. This study investigates the integration of PSWs in Trieste and its region, a pivotal site of Italy's psychiatric reform, where the deinstitutionalisation movement fostered the transition to a community-based care model. The present study adopted an ethnographic methodology, encompassing a six-month field study involving participant observation and 22 semi-structured interviews with 12 PSWs and 10 mental health professionals. PSWs contribute to enhancing empathy, user engagement, and social inclusion, while also fostering a recovery and community-oriented approach to care. However, challenges have emerged, including role ambiguity, institutional under-recognition, and professional resistance. These tensions often reflect broader issues around power dynamics and the epistemic legitimacy of lived experience. The study also identifies strategies to support PSW integration, including safeguarding practices, interprofessional training, and institutional recognition. In addition to their clinical and relational contributions, PSWs offer an opportunity for mental health services to critically reflect on their practices, assumptions, and power structures. Their meaningful inclusion can catalyse a shift towards more participatory, rights-based, and recovery-oriented care.