Engaging with peers to integrate community care: Knowledge synthesis and conceptual map

Area of Science:

• Healthcare delivery
• Community health
• Health services research

Background:

• Peer support is increasingly recognized by global healthcare systems for its potential to address care fragmentation and health inequalities.
• Peers, individuals with lived experience or insider community knowledge, build trust and connect underserved populations with formal care.
• The diverse terminology and models of peer support can be confusing, necessitating conceptual clarity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To disentangle the conceptual multiplicity of peer support.
• To present a conceptual map to navigate and situate various peer support approaches.
• To facilitate a common language for knowledge exchange in peer support.

Main Methods:

• A 3-year knowledge synthesis project.
• Involvement of peers and program stakeholders in Canada.
• Analysis of international scientific and grey literature.

Main Results:

• A conceptual map with six key questions to categorize peer support.
• The map situates peer support based on roles, pathways, and settings, irrespective of terminology.
• Provides an overview of peer contributions to integrated health and community care.

Conclusions:

• The conceptual map can establish a common language for peer support.
• It aids in bridging different peer support models for better knowledge exchange.
• Highlights the potential and limitations of the map for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers.