What Should the Role of Peer Mental Health Support Worker Involve? Youth Perspectives from Pakistan and South Africa Youth Perspectives from Pakistan and South Africa
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Abstract
Globally, child and youth mental health needs are largely unmet, especially in resource-constrained settings. Youth are uniquely placed to provide mental health support, but there is limited evidence on what their role should involve. The aim of this study was to establish how youth themselves conceptualized the peer support worker role. We captured the perspectives of 45 youth from Pakistan and South Africa. Focus group discussions were analyzed through a thematic codebook framework. Key findings indicated how youth can improve their mental health care, as well as those of their peers, by recognizing early signs of mental health concerns, developing adaptive coping mechanisms, strengthening social relationships, and mobilizing additional resources through advocacy and mediation. Peer support can be enhanced by skills such as lack of judgement, empathy, encouragement and good communication. Peer support workers can play an important role in promoting children’s mental health, particularly in resource-constrained settings. Such posts should be clearly defined, incorporated within existing service systems, and provided with adequate funding, training and supervision.
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