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. 2019 Sep;6(3):221-231.
doi: 10.1007/s40501-019-00179-7. Epub 2019 Jun 20.

The Future of Peer Support in Digital Psychiatry: Promise, Progress, and Opportunities

Karen L Fortuna  1 , Maria Venegas  2 , Emre Umucu  3 , George Mois  4 , Robert Walker  5 , Jessica M Brooks  6
Affiliations

The Future of Peer Support in Digital Psychiatry: Promise, Progress, and Opportunities

Karen L Fortuna et al. Curr Treat Options Psychiatry. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: This selective review highlights promising findings and future opportunities relevant to digital peer support services. This review considered literature published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals within the past 36 months.

Recent findings: Digital peer support spans multiple technology modalities: peer-delivered and smartphone-supported interventions, peer-supported asynchronous technology, artificial peer support, informal peer-to-peer support via social media, video games, and virtual worlds. Digital peer support is an emerging area of research that shows promise in improving mental health symptoms, medical and psychiatric self-management skill development, social functioning, hope, and empowerment.

Summary: As the science of peer support in digital psychiatry advances, peer support specialists will likely have an increasingly important role in the mental health workforce-from providing evidence-based, fidelity-adherent interventions to expanding their reach to vulnerable populations and communities.

Keywords: Digital health technology; Mental health care; Patient-facilitated networks; Peer support.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Karen L. Fortuna, Maria Venegas, Emre Umucu, George Mois, Robert Walker, and Jessica M. Brooks declare no conflict of interest.

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