'It was the deepest level of companionship': peer-to-peer experience of supporting community-dwelling older people with depression - a qualitative study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is an ample body of literature examining the experiences and outcomes of peer support services for mental health recovery in western countries. However, formal peer support is only recently adapted and piloted to alleviate depression among older people, and little is known about how the peer-to-peer model might be lived out in the older Chinese population. This qualitative study investigated peer supporters' (PS) perspectives of their roles and experiences of rendering formal peer support to community-dwelling older adults at risk of or living with depression in Hong Kong.

Methods

The study adopted a qualitative design. Five semi-structured focus groups were conducted with 27 trained peer supporters between ages 54-74 (21 females and 6 males) who had provide

SUBMITTER: Tang JPS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9121547 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature