Peer Support program

Trusted relationships promote recovery

Making meaningful connections with others is vital for all of us. For those experiencing a behavioral health condition, feeling a connection with someone who understands what you’re going through can be an essential part of recovery.

That’s why our peer support program is so important. Peers have either had a mental health condition or substance use disorder, or served as a caregiver for someone in their family who has. Their experience, and professional training, makes them a unique and valuable resource for someone going through a similar situation.

Lines of business

 

  • Commercial
  • Employer
  • Medicaid
  • Medicare
  • Public sector

Peers change lives

Peer support improves the quality of life, increases, and improves engagement with services, and increases whole health and self-management.1

Peers change lives

Peer support improves the quality of life, increases, and improves engagement with services, and increases whole health and self-management.1

The ideal combination of empathy and expertise

Our peer support specialists are state or nationally certified and may also be trained in Trauma Informed Care and Intentional Peer Support. This makes peers especially effective at:

  • Decreasing stigma related to mental health and substance use disorders.
  • Being a personal support and advocate.
  • Creating relationships that are founded in evidence-based recovery practices, principles, and beliefs.
  • Improving an individual’s ability to know when and where to seek help.
  • Supporting an individual’s self-management and coping skills.
  • Empowering an individual in recovery to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Peers extend the reach of treatment

Our peer support specialists work collaboratively with clinicians, often as members of clinical care teams. Through shared experiences, respect, and mutual empowerment, they help individuals become engaged and stay engaged in treatment.

Peers also work with individuals and their families to get them connected with appropriate care services and smooth the transition from inpatient to outpatient care. They also facilitate connections to community-based resources and support services to enable a successful and sustained recovery.

Positive impacts can be felt around the country

Our years of experience in providing peer support services across the country has allowed us to identify best practices and develop a peer support program that serves as a model in the industry. Its scalability allows us to help meet the needs of both small and large populations and seamlessly implement programs in new markets.

Wellness and recovery with peers 20212

Six months after members began participating in our peer support program, we saw the following results:

83%

reduction in emergency room hospital admissions

58%

reduction in inpatient hospital admissions

40%

reduction in inpatient psychiatric facility admissions

71%

reduction in psychiatric outpatient hospitalization admissions

52%

reduction in residential substance use disorder treatment facility admissions

88%

increase in telehealth participation

Learn more about our Peer Support program

1 Mental Health America: Evidence for Peer Support: May 2018.
2 Internal enterprise data, 2022.