Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Implementation of a Real-Time Psychosis Risk Detection and Alerting System Based on Electronic Health Records using CogStack
Published on: May 15, 2020
Predicting Engagement With Mental Health Peer Specialist Services
Matthew Chinman1, Sharon McCarthy1, Chantele Mitchell-Miland1
1Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion and the Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (Chinman, Mitchell-Miland, Bachrach) and Department of Health Science (McCarthy), Veterans Affairs (VA) Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh; Department of Health, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California (Chinman); Department of Sociology (Schutt) and Department of Psychiatry (Ellison), University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Objective:
Peer specialists are individuals with behavioral disorders who complete training to use their experiences to help others with similar disorders. Recent analyses have suggested that greater engagement with peer specialist services is associated with fewer psychiatric symptoms. This study assessed predictors of engagement with peer specialist services.
Methods:
Using the Andersen model of health service utilization with a sample of veterans (N=71) receiving housing support, investigators constructed a negative binomial regression model to evaluate the association between peer specialist service engagement and the model's three factors assessed at baseline of a larger trial: predisposing (personal demographic and social variables); enabling (support variables), and need (perceived and evaluated health problems). Demographic characteristics and behavioral health service use six months before baseline were also predictors.
Results:
Greater hope (predisposing), psychiatric symptoms (need), and service utilization significantly predicted greater peer specialist engagement.
Conclusions:
These results suggest subpopulations with whom peer specialists would be most likely to engage successfully, perhaps improving their efficiency.
Related Concept Videos
Stress and Mental Health
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth....
Predicting Molecular Geometry
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory
Primary Healthcare Services
In 1978, international leaders convened in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, for what would be a pivotal event in global health. The Alma-Ata Declaration was the first to call...

