[Effectiveness of peer helper interventions for people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder: A literature review]

The effectiveness of programs integrating trained and paid peer helpers on symptoms, quality of life and recovery of persons with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia is still poorly understood. The factors influencing the integration of peer helpers into healthcare teams are also poorly understood.

A systematic review of the literature was performed. We systematically searched multiple electronic databases for articles: (i) exploring the effectiveness of the intervention of trained and paid peer helpers in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia (ii) reporting barriers and facilitators to the integration of peer helpers.

Forty-eight articles were included, 24 on the effectiveness of the intervention of peer helpers, 18 on barriers and 13 on facilitators to the integration of peer helpers in health teams. Of them, 25 were based upon qualitative methods (7 concerning the effectiveness of the intervention of peer helpers, 14 the barriers and 7 the facilitators to their integration); 23 were based upon quantitative methods (9 studies focused on the effectiveness of peer helper intervention, 2 on barriers and 6 on integration facilitators). The 23 quantitative studies included 8 randomized controlled trials.

In spite of their heterogeneity, the results suggest that that interventions of peer helpers have a positive impact on the recovery, quality of life, social functioning, physical health and clinical outcome of persons with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. The results also showed that the integration of peer helpers is favored by caregivers' awareness about the role of peer helpers and knowledge about the recovery model. The results highlight the need for peer helpers to have a well-defined role and to be supervised, preferably by another peer helper.