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Being paired with a person who is willing to share stories of their recovery from serious mental illness and provide coaching and encouragement may lead patients with serious mental illness to experience greater improvements in psychiatric symptoms and functioning than those who receive standard care only, according to a study published yesterday in Psychiatric Services in Advance.“This study provides evidence in support of theories and emerging research that peers may play uniquely beneficial roles in connecting with individuals who may be difficult to engage or less responsive to traditional outpatient care,” wrote Maria O'Connell, Ph.D., of Yale University School of Medicine and colleagues.
Nine months after hospital discharge, participants assigned to mentors had greater reductions in substance use as well as greater improvement in several components of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), including physical health, hygiene/self-care, and unusual behavior compared with those who received standard care only. Individuals with mentors also had a significantly longer average time to rehospitalization than those receiving standard care—270 days compared with 135 days.