The Potential Role of Peer Support Workers in General Practice: Perspectives of Consumers, Carers, Peer Support Workers and General Practice Staff

Primary care (general practice) clinics play a significant role in ongoing mental health care and assessment, treatment, and referral of people experiencing distress. Peer support workers (PSWs) are part of the growing Lived Experience workforce in many mental healthcare settings and evidence for their value is growing rapidly. Yet, this workforce is largely absent from primary care. Qualitative interviews with 10 consumers, six family carers, eight PSWs, and 14 general practice doctors, nurses and administrative staff occurred prior to a real-world trial and explored their perceptions of the potential benefits of introducing a PSW intervention for people who seek help for their mental health within primary care in Australia. Interview data were analysed thematically using Braun and Clark’s six-step guide, following an inductive approach. Four themes were identified: (1) offering companionship, validation, and hope; (2) sharing learnings and providing practical support; (3) aiding in communication and offering consistency to help address service system gaps and health service navigation; and (4) redistributing power and advocacy. There was strong agreement across interviewees about potential positive impacts that PSWs could have in enhancing mental health care in primary care. These benefits require testing within primary care, given known challenges with awareness and understanding of the PSW role by other health professional disciplines in mental health settings, and differences related to how peer support and primary care practice are delivered. Overall, these perspectives and the existing evidence suggest that peer support may lead to more responsive, safe, effective, and person-centred primary mental health care.